Anfang initially denied the charges but resigned as coach of second division Bremen in late November after a criminal investigation was opened following a complaint from Bremen’s health authorities, who had discovered irregularities in the certificate.
At the beginning of January, a spokesman for the prosecution announced that Anfang had admitted the facts via his lawyer.
On Wednesday, Anfang, 47, was suspended for one year, starting Nov. 20. From June 10, the suspension will be accompanied by a probation, which means that he will be able to find a job from the start of next season.
Anfang was also fined 20,000 euros, while his assistant Florian Junge was fined 3,000 euros and suspended for 10 months. Jung will also serve the last part of his suspension, starting June 1, on probation.
“Markus Anfang and Florian Junge have significantly violated the role model function of coaches with their actions,” said Hans E. Lorenz, president of the DFB sports court.
The sentences were justified on the basis of “the confessions they made”, while leaving them “the opportunity to find a new job for the 2022/23 season.”
The duo had produced false documents showing that they had been vaccinated twice against the coronavirus, thus exempting them from the obligations of application tests in the fall of 2021.
They also used fake certificates to avoid a quarantine as close contacts of player Marco Friedl when he tested positive.
The anomalies in Anfang’s vaccination document were discovered during an examination. It turned out that Anfang was coaching his former club, Darmstadt, in a match in Würzburg, on a date when he was supposed to have received his first dose in Cologne.
