Football DFB trial: Zwanziger did not appear in court
Theo Zwanziger did not appear before the Frankfurt am Main regional court. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
Due to Theo Zwanziger’s unexcused absence, the sixth day of the Summer Fairy Tale trial was interrupted right at the beginning.
Due to Theo Zwanziger’s unexcused absence, the sixth day of the Summer Fairy Tale trial was interrupted right at the beginning.
The former president of the German Football Association, who was accused of tax evasion, was missing without having submitted the required certificate of his inability to stand trial to the Frankfurt am Main regional court.
The presiding judge, Eva-Maria Distler, initially suspended the hearing for 30 minutes to give Zwanziger’s lawyer, Hans-Jörg Metz, the opportunity to provide an official certificate. “This is an unexcused absence. We are negotiating according to the Code of Criminal Procedure; it is a legal requirement that the defendant be present. If there is no certificate, we have to bring him in,” said Distler.
In the trial, the former DFB officials Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach and Horst R. Schmidt have to answer for allegations of tax evasion in a particularly serious case. They are said to have unlawfully declared a payment of 6.7 million euros made to the world association FIFA in April 2005 as a business expense in the tax return for 2006, thereby reducing the tax for the World Cup year by around 13.7 million euros. All three defendants strictly deny the accusation.
dpa
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