- The termination of legal proceedings against the previous DFB president, Niersbach, has been concluded.
The summer trial against ex-DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach has temporarily halted for a month, requiring a 25,000 euro contribution to a charitable foundation as collateral. Should he meet this obligation by September 9, the trial will cease permanently. This information was shared by Judge Eva-Marie Distler at the Frankfurt/Main Regional Court.
Distler clarified, "This isn't an acquittal. Though the allegations of wrongdoing are minimal, they still linger." The judge cited Niersbach's uniqueness in not being directly implicated in the events, justifying the postponement of his trial due to tax evasion suspicions in a major case.
The Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office, initially requesting a 58,000 euro bond, concurred with the delayed trial. Senior public prosecutor Jesco Kümmel stated during the proceedings that this decision was "reasonable" and "justified."
Niersbach's downfall began with the World Cup fiasco
According to Distler, Niersbach suffered the most from the scandal. "It was a personal defeat for him. He lost all his positions. The consequences were severe, far more than for the other defendants," said the judge. Prior to the summer vacation of the tax trial, she had already separated the case against ex-DFB general secretary Horst R. Schmidt due to health matters.
Besides Niersbach and Schmidt, ex-DFB president Theo Zwanziger is among the accused. The top football association officials in Germany are believed to have illegally declared a 6.7 million euro FIFA payment in April 2005 as a business expense in their 2006 tax return, reducing the tax liability for the World Cup year by approximately 13.7 million euros. All three defendants deny the charges.
"Mr. Niersbach has endured for nine years as his professional life's work is tarnished," said Niersbach's lawyer Renate Verjans at the trial's commencement in March. She expressed that her client was now utilizing this opportunity to "alleviate the burden on him and his family." She also noted that the bond suspension "is not an admission of guilt" by Niersbach. The 73-year-old had served as DFB president from 2012 to 2015, resigning due to the World Cup scandal.
Continuation of the trial
FIFA had transferred the 6.7 million euros to Robert Louis-Dreyfus only a day after receiving it. Louis-Dreyfus then transferred a 10 million Swiss franc loan to Franz Beckenbauer's account in 2002. This amount later landed on Mohamed bin Hammam's account, then a FIFA vice president in Qatar. The purpose of the funds remains undetermined.
Testimonies from Fedor Radmann, once part of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee and a close friend of the late Beckenbauer, as well as former FIFA presidency Joseph S. Blatter and ex-DFB president Fritz Keller, are anticipated in court.
The trial for ex-DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach's summer charges was temporarily postponed, and a 25,000 euro contribution was required from him as collateral. This decision was made by Judge Eva-Marie Distler at the Frankfurt/Main Regional Court, who also mentioned that The Commission, the German Football Association's ethical committee, was yet to rule on Niersbach's case due to concerns over his potential involvement in tax evasion suspicions.
