Turkish SV Pforzheim: Amateur club is threatened with bankruptcy

Accumulated debt burden

After money laundering suspicion: football club is threatened with bankruptcy

In February, players from a German amateur club were targeted by the judiciary. Now the club is also threatened with trouble.

The situation is getting worse for Germania Union 1869 Türkischer SV Pforzheim. At the beginning of February, the club came into the focus of investigators after its promotion from the district league to the association league. When the team wanted to travel from Stuttgart to the training camp in Türkiye, customs officers at the airport discovered a total of 215,000 euros in cash in the players’ suitcases. Some of the professionals had almost 10,000 euros with them. Investigations have been initiated against 29 players. It’s not the club’s only problem.

At the end of April, Florian Thanner took over as second chairman. However, due to a lack of players, the club had to cancel its last games of the season. As a result, the team fell back to last place in the table and was relegated from the association league. Coach Gökhan Gökce resigned.

According to the SWR, the club and Thanner’s predecessor have not submitted any tax returns in the past six years. According to the “Badische Neuesten Nachrichten”, this resulted in debts of almost 200,000 euros. On April 30th, the Pforzheim tax office filed an application to open insolvency proceedings against Germania Union 1869 Türkischer SV Pforzheim. The association had previously been stripped of its non-profit status.

Oliver Weik, director of the responsible district court in Pforzheim, confirmed upon request that a lawyer was commissioned to provide an expert opinion on May 26th. According to Weik, this should clarify “whether there is a reason for opening”. It is also a question of “whether there is a cost-covering amount and whether there are prospects for the debtor’s business to continue”. According to Weiks, a deadline of one month was set for the preparation of the report.

“Our hope is that the bankruptcy will be granted. Only then will the club have a real chance of a new beginning,” said club vice-president Florian Thanner to “Bild”.

Dr. Eckhard Maak from the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office said regarding the money discovered at the airport: “In particular, evidence is still being evaluated. As things stand, no arrest warrant has been revoked or suspended.” According to information from “Bild”, those arrested are former sponsors of the club.

Individuals are allowed to take up to 9,999 euros in cash abroad. However, because numerous team members were apparently transporting large amounts of money, customs took action. A little later, investigators arrested two main suspects.