German football federation raided on suspicion of tax evasion

The headquarters of the German football federation and the private homes of some of its members were searched as part of an investigation.

The investigations are directed against six former or current officials of the DFB. - GETTY IMAGES (REPRESENTATIVE)

The headquarters of the German football federation and the private homes of some of its members were searched early on Wednesday as part of an investigation into tax evasion.

The Frankfurt public prosecutor said about 200 officers were involved in the raids in the German States of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate.

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“The investigations into suspected fraudulent corporate and trade tax evasion in particularly serious cases are directed against six former or current officials of the DFB,” public prosecutor Nadja Niesen said, referring to the football federation.

They are accused of deliberately wrongly declaring false income from perimeter advertising from home matches for the national football team from 2014 and 2015 as income from asset management.

The German federation is suspected of avoiding paying taxes of about EUR 4.7 million (USD 5.5 million) for the period.