German Football Federation Fined €110,000 For 2006 World Cup Tax Evasion

Last Updated:June 25, 2025, 16:23 IST

The German football federation (DFB) was fined 110,000 euros for tax evasion linked to the 2006 World Cup. Prosecutors accused the DFB of evading 2.7 million euros in taxes.

Franz Beckenbauer was a key figure in the DFB at the time. (AP)

The German football federation has been found guilty of tax evasion connected to the awarding of the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.

A regional court in Frankfurt has imposed a fine of 110,000 euros ($128,000) on the federation, known by its German acronym DFB, after an almost 16-month trial concluded on Wednesday.

Prosecutors had sought a larger fine, accusing the DFB of evading approximately 2.7 million euros (now $3.1 million) in taxes related to a payment of 6.7 million euros ($7.8 million) to FIFA, the world football’s governing body, in April 2005.

Senior public prosecutor Jesco Kümmel sharply criticized the DFB prior to the verdict, saying that it had “not covered itself in glory" in its handling of the affair surrounding the 2006 World Cup.

He also accused the DFB of making it difficult for investigators to access important files. “Some documents were only handed over to us late or after repeated insistence," he said. One file was only handed to investigators after they obtained search warrant.

It began with a loan to the German federation from late businessman Robert Louis-Dreyfus to effectively buy the hosting rights to the 2006 World Cup through an alleged bribe to then Qatari FIFA executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam.

The DFB disguised the loan repayment as a contribution towards a planned World Cup opening gala, which was later canceled, and falsely declared it as a business expense a year later.

Initially, former DFB officials Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach, and Horst R. Schmidt were charged in the trial. However, the proceedings against all three, who consistently denied the tax evasion allegations, were eventually dropped after they paid fines.

The trio had consistently denied tax evasion, the only charge that German prosecutors believed they could bring in the 2006 affair.

With Inputs From Agencies

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Berlin, Germany

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