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The German football federation (DFB) was fined 110,000 euros for tax evasion linked to the 2006 World Cup. Prosecutors accused the DFB of evading 2.7 million euros in taxes.
Franz Beckenbauer was a key figure in the DFB at the time. (AP)
The German soccer federation has been found guilty of tax evasion related to its successful bid for the 2006 World Cup. This marked the conclusion of a decade-long investigation into allegations that Germany used secret funds to buy votes from FIFA executive committee members to secure the tournament.
On Wednesday, a regional court in Frankfurt fined the federation, known by its German acronym DFB, 110,000 euros ($128,000) after a trial lasting nearly 16 months. Prosecutors had sought a larger penalty, accusing the DFB of not paying approximately 2.7 million euros (now $3.1 million) in taxes connected to a 6.7 million euro ($7.8 million) payment to FIFA in April 2005.
This payment settled a loan that Franz Beckenbauer, head of the World Cup organizing committee, had taken from Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a former Adidas executive and part-owner of the Infront marketing agency. The money was routed through a Swiss law firm to a Qatari company owned by Mohammed Bin Hammam, a former FIFA Executive Committee member. The exact purpose of the funds remains unclear.
In 2015, Theo Zwanziger, who was DFB president at the time, told Spiegel magazine, “there was definitely a slush fund in the German World Cup bid.” He accused his successor, Wolfgang Niersbach, of lying about it. Both were on the World Cup organizing committee.
The DFB disguised the loan repayment as a contribution towards a planned World Cup opening gala, which was later canceled, and falsely reported it as a business expense a year later. Zwanziger, Niersbach, and DFB general secretary Horst R. Schmidt were initially charged but consistently denied the tax evasion allegations. The charges against them were eventually dropped after they paid fines.
Presiding judge Eva-Marie Distler, as reported by news agency dpa, stated, “The court is certain without a doubt that the DFB evaded taxes and that those involved put up with it.” Initially, the DFB was fined 130,000 euros ($151,000), but 20,000 euros was waived due to procedural delays.
Distler criticized the DFB’s handling of the investigation, describing its efforts as presenting a “catastrophic image” and noting that the federation must bear the costs of the proceedings. She highlighted the high legal fees and the lack of personal accountability within the DFB, adding, “No DFB representative participated in either the investigation or the trial. You have to ask, are they not taking the justice system seriously?”
The DFB has one week to appeal the ruling.
With AP Inputs
- Location :
Berlin, Germany
- First Published:
