Less than a day after his lawyers announced that he would appeal, Uli Hoeness has announced that he has accepted his punishment and is ready to go to jail. Hoeness was sentenced to three years and six months in jail after he was found guilty of tax evasion.
The former Bayern Munich club president released a statement earlier today declaring that he had asked his lawyers not to seek an appeal.
I say “former” because Hoeness also resigned his position with the club as president and board member. A personal statement from Hoeness appeared on the club’s website today, saying, in part:
Furthermore I hereby resign the offices of president of FC Bayern München e.V. and chairman of the FC Bayern München AG supervisory board with immediate effect. By doing so I wish to avert further damage to my club. FC Bayern München is my life’s work and will always remain so. I will continue to be associated with this magnificent club and its people in other ways for as long as I live.
I wish to thank from the heart my personal friends and all followers of FC Bayern München for your support.
No successor has been named, though I would be surprised to learn that the club didn’t have a short list. There have been calls for Hoeness to step down since he was initially charged, with the German paper Der Spiegel warning about the potential fallout to the club’s sponsors if Hoeness was convicted. The paper worried that the impact would affect the reputation of the sponsors, noting, “An Audi car cannot afford to be connected in any way to the word ‘fraud.’”
While the club regroups, Adidas executive Herbert Hainer will chair the club’s supervisory board in Hoeness’ absence. In addition to owning a share of the club, Adidas is a major sponsor and provides the club’s kits.
Hoeness has been affiliated with Bayern Munich for more than 40 years. One German reporter even referred to the club as Hoeness’ “life’s work.”
Hoeness has admitted to concealing millions from German tax authorities and failing to file taxes on those earnings. Today, he accepted the consequences of his mistake, saying that “[e]ading tax was the biggest mistake of my life.”
