Overview

• Borussia Dortmund has engaged BDO for a forensic review of the allegations and the club’s handling, with the firm issuing an independence declaration because it is also BVB’s auditor.
• The case concerns alleged approaches toward a youth player in the 1990s that were reported to the club many years later.
• In 2010, CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke was notified by a victim’s lawyer; the board questioned the employee, who denied the claims, imposed a temporary ban and later reached a private settlement.
• The man subsequently returned and received a minijob in 2012 that the club says did not involve institutional contact with youth players, and his minor employment was terminated in 2023 after another decades-old report.
• The accused continues to deny wrongdoing, and criminal prosecution of the alleged incidents would be barred by the statute of limitations.