As of: March 10, 2024, 4:48 p.m
By: Stefan Schmid
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The dark curtain over the summer fairy tale of 2006 is about to be lifted in court.
The flow of money to Qatar will also play a role for Hoeneß.
Frankfurt/Main – “The world as a guest of friends” was the motto of the 2006 home World Cup. But the question has been lingering for a long time as to whether the DFB was able to buy the hosting of the tournament using unfair means.
The accusation now being heard in court against Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach and Horst R. Schmidt is tax evasion.
Uli Hoeneß, among others, is expected to testify to clarify the matter.
His previously ignored statements from the past should be explained.
Uli Hoeneß is scheduled to appear in court in the summer fairy tale trial.
© IMAGO / Jan Huebner
Uli Hoeneß is supposed to testify in the summer fairy tale trial
It is the news from the second day of the Summer Fairy Tale trial: Uli Hoeneß is to testify in court on April 15th, judge Eva-Marie Distler announced.
The Bayern patron will probably have to ask himself questions about statements from 2020 and 2021, which hardly caused a stir at the time, but are now being examined more closely.
“If you get involved so prominently, you might have to explain it in court,” said the judge, justifying her measure.
The year is 2020. Uli Hoeneß is a guest at
Doppelpass
.
So far, so ordinary.
After the technical talk and the football phrases, Hoeneß drops a remarkable sentence at the end of the program: “I know very definitely that the money was not used to buy votes.” And: “I think I'm the wrong person to explain that to you .”
Uli Hoeneß claimed that he was very likely aware of the mysterious flows of money in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup and knew what they were used for.
Former Adidas boss Robert Louis-Dreyfus was also involved in the money racket.
This is relevant because a year after his
Doppelpass
appearance on the podcast
11 Leben
, Hoeneß spoke out on the topic again, this time in connection with Louis-Dreyfus: “I was very close friends with Robert Louis-Dreyfus until his death, and I know pretty well what was going on back then, and it wasn’t bribery!”
Money flows via Qatar and Beckenbauer – What does Hoeneß know?
It remains to be seen how much light Hoeneß can or wants to shed on the darkness.
What is known, however, is how and where which money flowed.
The late Franz Beckenbauer borrowed ten million euros from Louis-Dreyfus in 2002.
The Frenchman got part of the money back not from Beckenbauer, but from FIFA.
Beckenbauer formed the World Cup organizing committee together with those now accused.
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From Beckenbauer the amount went to the Qatari FIFA official Mohamed bin Hammam.
Why is part of the current negotiations.
Louis-Dreyfus, on the other hand, received part of his loan back in 2005.
However, the 6.7 million euros came from FIFA, which had previously received the money from the DFB.
The people who made the summer fairy tale of 2006 possible. The question is, by what means?
From left to right: Horst R. Schmidt, Theo Zwanziger, Franz Beckenbauer and Wolfgang Niersbach.
© picture alliance/dpa/Fotoagentur Kunz |
Kunz
In addition to the Dreyfus millions to Beckenbauer, the 6.7 million from the DFB to FIFA play a role in the indictment.
In the eyes of the DFB and the defendants, the transfer was a business expense.
The tax authorities, who did not follow the DFB's argument, subsequently revoked the association's non-profit status for 2006.
The result: back taxes amounting to millions.
Former DFB representatives deny allegations – Zwanziger wants Matthäus on the witness stand
The former DFB presidents Zwanziger and Niersbach as well as the long-standing general secretary Schmidt deny the accusation of “evasion or aiding and abetting the evasion of corporation tax, solidarity surcharge, trade tax and sales tax for the year 2006 in the amount of over 13.7 million euros in favor of the DFB”.
After Uli Hoeneß was summoned, Theo Zwanziger pleaded for another prominent witness in the summer fairy tale trial.
“I will suggest Lothar Matthäus next.
He was a little closer to Franz Beckenbauer.
With Lothar Matthäus you can rely on him to say something,” he said somewhat smugly after the second day of proceedings before the regional court in Frankfurt/Main.
(
sch/sid/dpa
)