International Football
THREE FORMER GERMAN FOOTBALL OFFICIALS INDICTED OVER 2006 WORLD CUP PAYMENT
BY LIAM MORGAN
Three former German football officials have been indicted on fraud charges by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) as part of its investigation into a suspect payment linked to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The OAG said it had filed the indictment against former German Football Association (DFB) Presidents Wolfgang Niersbach and Theo Zwanziger and ex-secretary general Horst Schmidt, as well as former Swiss FIFA official Urs Linsi, regarding the €6.7 million (£6.2 million/$7.5 million) payment.
In a statement, the OAG said they are “alleged to have fraudulently misled the members of a supervisory body of the DFB Organising Committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany in April 2005 about the true purpose” of the payment.
It has been alleged that the money was used to help bribe members of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee, which has since been rebranded as the Council, who had a vote to decide the host of the 2006 World Cup.
The payment was reportedly made for an opening gala event which never took place.
The four men deny wrongdoing, while the DFB claim the payment was the return of personal loan taken out by Franz Beckenbauer from then Adidas chief executive Robert Louis-Dreyfus, which went through FIFA.
The same sum was allegedly given to banned former FIFA vice-president Mohammed bin Hammam by Beckenbauer.
The OAG said separate proceedings were ongoing against Beckenbauer, who served as the President of the Organising Committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player in 1974 and as a manager in 1990, “is unable for health reasons to participate or to be questioned in the main hearing in the Federal Criminal Court”, the OAG added.
In its indictment, the OAG said Schmidt, Zwanziger and Linsi are accused of fraud and Niersbach of being complicit in fraud, while it has dropped allegations of money-laundering.
“The investigations have revealed that in summer 2002 Franz Beckenbauer accepted a loan of CHF10 million (£8.4 million/$10.3 million/€9.1 million) in his own name and for his own account from Robert Louis-Dreyfus,” the OAG added in its statement.
“This sum was used to fund various payments made via a Swiss law firm to a Qatari company belonging to Mohammed Bin Hammam.
“The exact purpose of the total payments of 10 million Swiss francs to Mohammed Bin Hammam could not be determined – also because a corresponding request for mutual legal assistance made by the OAG to the Qatari authorities in September 2016 remained unanswered until today.”
The OAG opened an investigation into the accusations, which prompted Niersbach to resign as DFB President, in 2016.
The German bid defeated South Africa by a narrow margin of 12 votes to 11 back in 2000 after New Zealand’s Charlie Dempsey abstained from the second round of voting after stating there had been “intolerable pressure” prior to the ballot.
A tax office in Frankfurt has already ordered the DFB to pay a total of €19.2 million (£17.1 million/$22.6 million) in back taxes on the payment.
-INSIDETHEGAMES
International Football
German Thomas Tuchel becomes 3rd foreign manager for England
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has been named the new head coach of the England national team, the country’s Football Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The German, who is England’s third foreign manager, after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello, will be assisted by Englishman Anthony Barry, the statement added.
“We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Tuchel replaces Lee Carsley, England’s under-21 manager, who has been in temporary charge since the resignation of Gareth Southgate after England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in July.
-Reuters
International Football
Factbox on England head coach Thomas Tuchel
German Thomas Tuchel has been appointed head coach of the England national team on Wednesday.
Born: Aug. 29, 1973 in Krumbach, Germany.
PLAYING CAREER
* Tuchel played for his local club TSV Krumbach, before moving to FC Augsburg’s academy at the age of 15.
* He never played for Augsburg’s senior side and joined German second division team Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992.
* After eight league appearances for Kickers, Tuchel moved to fourth-tier SSV Ulm.
* Tuchel made 69 league appearances for Ulm as a central defender before he was forced to retire in 1998 at the age of 25 due to a knee injury.
COACHING CAREER
* Tuchel began his coaching career with a youth team role at VfB Stuttgart in 2000, working with future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.
* He returned to Augsburg and took charge of their reserve team for the 2007-08 season.
* Tuchel was appointed Mainz 05 manager in 2009, replacing compatriot Juergen Klopp.
* He guided Mainz to Bundesliga stability during his five-year stint at the club, gaining plaudits for his team’s high energy, attacking style of play.
* Tuchel took over from Klopp as Borussia Dortmund coach in 2015.
* He led Dortmund to a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2017 German Cup final. He was sacked by Dortmund three days later.
* Tuchel joined Paris St Germain in 2018 on a two-year contract, replacing Unai Emery.
* He won two Ligue 1 titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to their first Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
* Tuchel was sacked by PSG on Christmas Eve in 2020, despite the club finishing top of their Champions League group and sitting third in the Ligue 1 table.
* He was named Chelsea manager in January 2021 on an initial 18-month contract following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
* Tuchel revived the team’s Premier League season and guided the London club to the Champions League final, where they beat Manchester City. Chelsea also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
* Chelsea sacked Tuchel in September 2022 following a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League group game.
* Bayern Munich appointed Tuchel to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in March last year.
* Bayern decided to let Tuchel go at the end of the 2023-24 season despite a contract until 2025. Tuchel steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022-23, but they finished the last campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
* Tuchel will become England’s third foreign manager after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.
* Tuchel will take over the team in January ahead of the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
-Reuters
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
-
AFCON2 days ago
Libya’s AFCON dreams go up in flames!
-
AFCON7 days ago
Billiat’s penalty seals Zimbabwe’s 1-0 win over Namibia
-
AFCON1 week ago
Facts & Figures as AFCON 2025 qualifiers enter Matchday 3
-
AFCON1 week ago
AFCON 2025 in Morocco: Everything you need to know
-
AFCON3 days ago
BREAKING! CAF wades into the Libya-Nigeria Airport episode
-
AFCON1 week ago
Libya’s captain, Faisal Al-Badri alleges poor treatment in Nigeria
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
CAF compels Kwasi Appiah to step down from Ghana FA
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Fastest World Cup final scorer is dead!