A German court found the country's soccer federation guilty of tax evasion connected to the 2006 World Cup. The case ended a decade-long investigation about vote buying allegations. Officials accused Germany of using secret money to secure FIFA committee votes for hosting rights. The Frankfurt court imposed a 110,000 euro fine after a 16-month trial. This penalty concluded the lengthy legal process.
Prosecutors wanted a bigger punishment for the German federation known as DFB. The organization failed to pay about 2.7 million euros in required taxes. These taxes related to a 6.7 million euro payment made to FIFA during April 2005. The payment resolved a debt that Franz Beckenbauer had taken on three years earlier. Beckenbauer led Germany's World Cup organizing committee at that time.
The original loan came from Robert Louis-Dreyfus who worked for Adidas before. Louis-Dreyfus also held ownership in the Infront marketing company. The money traveled through a Swiss legal firm to reach its final destination. A Qatari business received the funds from this complex transfer process. Mohammed Bin Hammam owned this company and served on FIFA's Executive Committee.
Investigators never figured out what the money was supposed to accomplish. The payment's true purpose remained a mystery throughout the entire case. Courts could not establish whether the funds actually bought World Cup hosting votes. The conviction focused on tax violations rather than corruption charges. German soccer officials avoided more serious penalties about vote buying.
Prosecutors wanted a bigger punishment for the German federation known as DFB. The organization failed to pay about 2.7 million euros in required taxes. These taxes related to a 6.7 million euro payment made to FIFA during April 2005. The payment resolved a debt that Franz Beckenbauer had taken on three years earlier. Beckenbauer led Germany's World Cup organizing committee at that time.
The original loan came from Robert Louis-Dreyfus who worked for Adidas before. Louis-Dreyfus also held ownership in the Infront marketing company. The money traveled through a Swiss legal firm to reach its final destination. A Qatari business received the funds from this complex transfer process. Mohammed Bin Hammam owned this company and served on FIFA's Executive Committee.
Investigators never figured out what the money was supposed to accomplish. The payment's true purpose remained a mystery throughout the entire case. Courts could not establish whether the funds actually bought World Cup hosting votes. The conviction focused on tax violations rather than corruption charges. German soccer officials avoided more serious penalties about vote buying.
