June 4 – Eighteen months after the Swiss criminal investigation into corruption allegations over the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany was broadened to include former FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi (pictured), he is now reported to be among four former leading administrators charged by German prosecutors with serious tax evasion.
The others are reported to be former German FA (DFB) bigwigs Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach and Horst R Schmidt, the first two one-time DFB presidents and members of the FIFA executive committee, the third a former DFB secretary general and 2006 local organising committee chief.
The three ex-senior DFB officials are accused of arranging for incorrect tax returns to be submitted for 2006 to enable the DFB to avoid paying around €13.7 million in tax according to the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office. Last October, the tax office ordered the DFB to pay €19.2 million in back taxes related to the payment for the 2006 World Cup.
The tax return in question included a €6.7 million payment from the DFB to FIFA for a World Cup event, although the funds were in fact used for another purpose and should not have been offset against tax, according to the Frankfurt prosecutor.
The payment of €6.7 million made by the DFB to the late Adidas chief executive Robert Louis-Dreyfus has come under constant scrutiny over allegations it was used as a slush fund to buy votes for Germany to host the 2006 tournament.
In 2016, a report commissioned by the DFB into alleged irregularities surrounding the bid said the sum was the return of a loan via FIFA from former Adidas chief Robert Louis-Dreyfus. But it noted the DFB had earmarked the payment as a contribution to a World Cup gala which never took place. Several years earlier, the same amount of money ended up in the hands of now-disgraced former Asian confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam.
In January, bin Hammam, who was twice banned from football, broke his long silence by confirming he received €6.7 million but denied involvement in any bribery.
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