By Ciarán Fahey
The German soccer federation has been convicted of tax evasion related to its successful 2006 World Cup bid.
It brought an end of sorts on Wednesday to a 10-year process prompted by allegations that Germany used a slush fund to buy votes from FIFA executive committee members to be certain of hosting the tournament.
A regional court in Frankfurt fined the federation, known by its German acronym DFB, 110,000 euros ($128,000) at the culmination of a nearly 16-month trial at the end of the investigation process.
Prosecutors had been pushing for a larger fine after accusing the DFB of failing to pay approximately 2.7 million euros (now $3.1 million) in taxes related to its payment of 6.7 million euros ($7.8 million) to FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, in April 2005.
That payment settled a loan that Germany great Franz Beckenbauer, the head of the World Cup organizing committee,
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