October 23 – The issues surrounding the controversial payments made by the German FA (DFB) to FIFA as part of a so-called ‘slush find’ to buy votes for the 2006 World Cup just won’t go away.
Now the DFB has been hit by a €19.2 million back-tax demand concerning the payment of €6.7 million to FIFA in 2005.
The German tax authorities say the payment had not been properly declared. The DFB is challenging that claim
“The tax authority is questioning the tax deductibility of the payment and the non-profit character of the DFB for the year 2006,” the DFB said in a statement.
“The DFB, following advice from tax and legal advisors, will challenge these altered tax assessments.”
The payment was described at the time as being for an opening ceremony but a DFB-commissioned investigation last year found that a ceremony never took place and the sum was the return of a loan via FIFA from former Adidas chief Robert Louis-Dreyfus. No details of why he has provided a loan have ever been given.
There are a number of payments made by the Germans and via their media companies – many of whose executives still hold leading positions in the German media market – regarding the rights to various German and Bayern Munich matches that look suspiciously like bribes for votes for the 2006 hosting.
2006 World Cup organising committee chief Franz Beckenbauer has denied all allegations that funds were used to buy votes in favour of the German bid, but is nevertheless still facing criminal proceedings in Switzerland after the Swiss Attorney General’s Office (OAG) opened criminal proceedings against Beckenbauer and former DFB presidents Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach as well as ex-DFB general secretary Horst R Schmidt.in 2016. Their investigations are related to allegations of fraud, criminal mismanagement, money laundering and misappropriation of funds.
Detail of those investigations is still to be released though Beckenbauer and his former colleagues may now be protected by the statute of limitations in Switzerland.
Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball.com