Former DFB President Theo Zwanziger wants to lobby for his successor Wolfgang Niersbach to appear as a witness in the Summer Fairytale trial. “I have asked my lawyer to work to have Niersbach called as a witness in court if the court does not do so on its own. Perhaps then there will be more news from the application phase for the 2006 World Cup, which I was not involved in,” Zwanziger told the German Press Agency.
Old document surfaced
The background to the move is a letter from Niersbach in 1999 to the then national coach Jürgen Klinsmann, which was recently reported on by the news magazine “Der Spiegel”. In it, the then DFB media director described the conditions in the FIFA Executive Committee with regard to Germany’s ultimately successful World Cup bid.
In the letter, which was obtained by the dpa, Niersbach wrote that committee member Jack Warner, among others, was “to be considered very dubious”. The then president of the North and Central American Association was “one of those people who are open in the truest sense of the word – for everything”. Four days before the World Cup was awarded in 2000, the now deceased Franz Beckenbauer signed a million-euro contract with Warner on behalf of the German Football Association. Niersbach always denied any irregularities.
Zwanziger sees court as the next step
According to Zwanziger, this shows “once again how much Niersbach obviously deceived the public about his real knowledge and responsibility during the application phase. But the public prosecutor’s office and the court should now primarily think about this,” he said.
At the end of August, the Frankfurt Regional Court dropped the proceedings against 73-year-old Niersbach on suspicion of tax evasion in a particularly serious case in return for a fine of 25,000 euros. The proceedings against former DFB General Secretary Horst R. Schmidt had previously been separated for health reasons. Zwanziger is also accused. The three accused have always strictly denied the accusation. The trial will continue on Monday.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240913-930-231172/1
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