Dhe German Football Association (DFB) and its President Fritz Keller take the offensive after the tax raid and sharply criticize the media presence of the authorities. “The damage to the reputation of those affected and the DFB, which has resulted from the inadequate administrative procedure, shakes me personally,” said the 63-year-old Keller after an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee on Thursday. He was “still convinced of the innocence of those responsible at the DFB”.
By order of the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office, the business premises of the DFB and private apartments were searched by several officials last Wednesday. The charge: tax evasion in particularly serious cases. In essence, it is about the taxation of income from perimeter advertising at home games of the national team in 2014 and 2015.
These are said to have been deliberately wrongly declared, with which the DFB escaped taxation of around 4.7 million euros, the authority had announced. This week, the public prosecutor confirmed that the DFB had meanwhile paid the million sum, but that this would not play a role in the further investigation.
The DFB sees things differently: “The results of the previous reviews clearly contradict the allegations made. This can already be seen from the taxation and tax audit documents. However, the public prosecutor’s office failed to refer to and evaluate these documents in advance, ”said the association.
The DFB highlighted on Thursday “an understanding with the tax authorities” and the additional payment. “In addition, in March 2019, the DFB also handed over all known documents to the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office without being asked and assured extensive cooperation,” it said.
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