Another turn in the summer fairy tale process: The public prosecutor has rejected a hiring of the proceedings against the former DFB President Theo Zwanziger against a money requirement of 5,000 euros.
Instead, she demanded a payment of around 25,000 euros. The public prosecutor generally did not agree to the cessation of the procedure against the German Football Association.
Twenties lawyer: negotiations on a sum unworthy
Zwanziger’s lawyer Hans-Jörg Metz rejected the counter-proposal of the accusing authority. “I will not start negotiating the amount of the fine, that would be unworthy”Metz said on the 26th negotiation day of the trial about suspicion of severe tax evasion.
Sportschau, 03.04.2025 1:32 p.m.
For his client, however, it was clear that the money requirement had to stand out clearly from the amount, which the formerly accused Wolfgang Niersbach had to pay in September 2024 to hire the proceedings against him. Twenties’s successor had paid 25,000 euros.
10,000 euros as a compromise?
The public prosecutor described its offer as fair. However, this did not meet with the presiding judge Eva-Marie Distler. “The court evaluates the behavior of Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach completely differently”, she said. While twenties always behaved proactively, Niersbach’s appearance in court was “embarrassing”.
The two parties could already agree in the coming days. The basis is a proposal by Distler who brought a fine of 10,000 euros to “the sake of peace”. “We’ll think about it”, Saiden Prosecutor Jesco Kümmel said – and announced talks with Zwanziger lawyer Metz. “We will tell the chamber whether we have an agreement.”
Short -term clarification in prospect
Metz confirmed: “We will clarify this at short notice.” Nevertheless, April 14th was scheduled as the next day of the trial. “If necessary, we will see a decision beforehand”said Distler hopeful. However, it is certain that a decision is publicly announced by the court.
In addition to twenties and Niersbach (74), the former DFB general secretary Horst R. Schmidt (83) had to answer before the district court. Schmidt’s procedure was separated in the summer of the previous year for health reasons. All three accused had always strictly rejected the allegations.
Reduced amount of damage
According to the court, the allegations raised by the public prosecutor’s office had not clarified a payment of 6.7 million euros to the World Association FIFA from April 2005 a year later as a operating expense and thus inevitable taxes of EUR 13.7 million.
The public prosecutor itself evaluates this differently, but reduced the possible amount of damage to only around 2.7 million euros. “That is about 20 percent”, said Distler. This must also be priced in at the amount of the money requirement.