Overview

• A Frankfurt regional court fined the German Football Association €110,000 on June 25, ending a nearly 16-month tax evasion trial.
• Prosecutors accused the federation of dodging about €2.7 million in taxes on a €6.7 million payment to FIFA in April 2005.
• The payment was disguised as a World Cup gala expense after the event was canceled and logged later as a business cost.
• Investigators traced the funds through a Swiss law firm to a Qatari firm linked to Mohammed Bin Hammam, noting they covered Franz Beckenbauer’s earlier loan from Robert Louis-Dreyfus.
• Charges against former officials Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach and Horst R. Schmidt were dropped after each paid individual fines.