Hoeness resigns as Bayern boss, accepts jail term
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 15, 2014
Uli Hoeness said yesterday he would accept a 3-1/2-year prison term for evading 27 million euros (US$37.6 million) in taxes and resigned as president and chairman of Bayern Munich, the club he made into one of the world's most successful football dynasties.
Hoeness, 62, a household name in his country and friend of Chancellor Angela Merkel, had admitted evading taxes on income earned in secret Swiss bank accounts but hoped for leniency in one of the most scrutinized cases of its kind ever in Germany.
"After discussions with my family I have decided to accept the ruling of the Munich court on my tax affairs. This befits my understanding of decency, dignity and personal responsibility," he said in a statement published on the Bayern website. "Tax evasion was the biggest mistake of my life. I am facing up to the consequences of this mistake."
Judge Rupert Heindl ruled on Thursday that Hoeness's voluntary disclosure was incomplete and therefore did not meet a vital requirement of amnesty laws designed to encourage tax dodgers to come clean.
Hoeness, a former star footballer adored by Bayern fans, had been a popular TV talk show guest and ironically had spoken out for higher taxes and railed against tax evasion.
"The chancellor respects the decision Mr Hoeness took today," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said. He declined to give details of a lunch between the chancellor and Hoeness that took place the day before Hoeness decided to turn himself in — a meeting that has been the subject of media speculation.
His case profoundly shocked Germany, where tax evasion is considered a serious crime, and spurred thousands of tax dodgers to turn themselves in.
Hoeness was first charged with evading 3.5 million euros in taxes. But when the trial began on Monday he stunned the court by admitting he had actually evaded five times that amount — or 18.5 million euros. That figure was subsequently raised further to 28.5 million euros.
Hoeness said he would leave his posts with the club in order to spare Bayern, a team which last year won the Champions League and which dominates the German Bundesliga, any damage. "Bayern Munich is my life's work and will also remain so," he said.
Bayern named Herbert Hainer, the CEO of adidas, to replace Hoeness as chairman of the supervisory board and vice president. Board members include Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn and Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges.
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