On Tuesday, Bayern Munich confirmed that it would go through to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League’s knockout round – and they did it with a record-tying ninth successive UEFA Champions League win (in case you’re wondering, FC Barcelona also did it in 2002/03). Their 1-0 win at FC Viktoria Plzeň wasn’t the power play that fans wanted but it was enough to send them through with Manchester City to the round of 16.
On Monday, the club got the news that Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness was also through to the next round, of sorts – only his was not such happy news. German courts have declared, after months of investigation, that Hoeness will be tried in March 2014 on charges of tax evasion. If he is found guilty, he could be sentenced to five years in prison or fined an amount to be determined by the court. It’s an ironic twist for a man who once remarked while denouncing those who would evade taxes, “It doesn’t make any sense to end up in prison over a few Deutsche marks in taxes.”
Hoeness had hoped to avoid the spectacle of a trial by turning himself into taxing authorities for maintaining unreported accounts in Switzerland. He did so voluntarily although exactly how voluntary is a point of contention: reportedly, Hoeness’s name was on a CD of Swiss account holders obtained by the German government prior to his coming forward.
Hoeness allegedly concealed millions of Euros in the account over a period of years, failing to pay taxes on the earnings. The money was supposedly the result of his associations with folks in high places in European soccer clubs. At the top of the list? Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the man thought to have set Hoeness up with an account in Switzerland (yes, you know the name and not just because he’s the former CEO of Adidas: he’s also the cousin of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, best known for her role as Elaine in the hit TV series, Seinfeld).
Hoeness has since paid the tax associated with failing to report the accounts but that hasn’t made up for the scandal – and the courts are apparently not willing to just let it go. Despite Hoeness’s assertions that he was surprised that the case is proceeding, most of the world isn’t: the tax evasion scandal became very public because of Hoeness’s formerly close relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel has since distanced herself from Hoeness, clearly anticipating that otherwise, her call for financial transparency and tax compliance in the European community would be viewed as hypocritical. After Hoeness’ arrest, Chancellor Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said about him:
Many people are now disappointed in Uli Hoeness, among them the Chancellor.
Disappointed? Maybe it’s just Merkel. Despite initial calls from some for Hoeness to step down earlier this year, fans and owners alike have been strangely silent of late when it comes to the Bayern chief – except for those cheers in the stadium. Bayern’s value continues to go up (the team ranks at #5 on Forbes’ list of most valuable soccer clubs) as the team keeps winning, which might have gone a long way towards keeping those potential critics at bay.
Even German carmaker Audi, which owns a stake in the club and has maintained a longterm relationship with Bayern (this marked Audi’s 12th season with the club), has failed to raise calls for Hoeness’ resignation. This, despite concerns that the automaker, which has worked hard to distance itself from any scandal, was certain to demand Hoeness’ resignation, with the German paper Der Spiegel saying, “An Audi car cannot afford to be connected in any way to the word ‘fraud.'”
Hoeness said, about his tax issues, “I made this mistake and have admitted it as a private individual, but I do not think that my work for Bayern Munich has suffered because of it.” He continues to refuse to step down. The Board of Directors seems to agree with him – even opening the door for Hoeness to stay on if convicted, saying, “…the law for board members does not foresee any ban on holding office due to a criminal conviction.”
