German Bundesliga 2013-14

43 mins over 4.5 in at Hoffenheim.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrulebOA4NQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrulebOA4NQ[/ame]

 

As always the Hoffenheim game is good value. 2 down and Schalke have missed a pen all inside the first half hour.

 

another good day for HSV today against Frankfurt at home 1-0 down.

 

I hate Bayern now. Their too good, the *

 

They really are * ridiculous :smiley-laughing002:

 

It's gone too far. They aren't just winning every game, they are smashing everyone into the ground.

FIFA need to act and break this team up :smiley-laughing002:

http://forum.rojadirecta.es/showthread.php?215837-bundelsiga-wolsburg-vs-bayer-munich

 

The boss of German football giants Bayern Munich, Uli Hoeness, told a high-profile tax trial Monday that he hid millions of euros more than authorities thought but denied being a "social parasite".

In a surprise twist, defense lawyer Hanns Feigen said that Hoeness cheated the taxman out of 18.5 million euros ($25.5 million) -- vastly more than the 3.5 million euros listed in the prosecution brief.

Vowing he wants to come clean on his fiscal wrong-doing, Hoeness told the Munich court that he stashed away the money in a secret Swiss bank account during years of obsessive stock "gambling".

"I am glad that everything is now transparent and on the table," the 62-year-old former pro player and businessman, who now faces a possible jail term, said on the first day of his trial. "I deeply regret my misbehavior. I will do everything to ensure that this distressing chapter closes."

The case against Hoeness -- a football legend, well-connected sports functionary and conservative TV talk show regular from the southern state of Bavaria -- has captivated the sport-obsessed nation. When the tax scandal first broke a year ago, it rocked German sports and politics, and even Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her "disappointment" with the 1970s national player.

"I have evaded taxes," a rueful Hoeness told the packed court. "I am aware that turning myself in to the authorities does not change that. I was hoping to escape criminal charges with a voluntary disclosure."

Prosecutors argue that his self-reporting of a Zurich account in January 2013 contained irregularities and is invalid because authorities already had Hoeness in their crosshairs at the time.

Millions 'gambled' on stocks

The veteran footballer, who also runs a lucrative sausage company, said that during years of stocks trading from 2003 to 2009 that amounted to virtual "gambling", he had lost sight of his gains and losses.

He had earlier told German media that he received a 20 million deutschmark (10.2 million euro) loan for trading in his Swiss bank account in 2001 from the late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, then chief of club supplier and shareholder Adidas.

Overall, he told the court, had ended up in the red after his trading years, but he added that he now knew he still has an obligation to pay taxes on the interim winnings he made. But he also stressed that over the years he had donated a total of five million euros for social purposes, telling the court that "I'm not a social parasite".

Hoeness faces a possible jail term if found guilty by the court in the southern city of Munich, which has scheduled a four-day trial with a verdict expected Thursday. The maximum punishment for major tax fraud under German law is 10 years jail, but shorter terms, which can be suspended, are more commonly handed down.

The Bayern Munich boss arrived in court Monday through a back entrance and gave photographers a pained smile at the start of the trial in a courtroom packed with media and other audience members. Public interest in the case has been intense -- the 49 allocated media spots to cover the trial were filled within 27 seconds, the court said.

Hoeness has spent more than four decades with the Bavarian sporting giants -- first as player, helping win then West Germany the 1974 World Cup, then as team manager and, since 2009, as club president.

Despite widespread criticism of Hoeness, his initial offer to resign from Bayern Munich last May was rejected by the supervisory board of the European champions club. Hoeness has stayed on so far as president, amid expressions of loyalty from fans and players, and support from corporate sponsors such as Adidas, Audi, VW and Deutsche Telekom.

"I can only hope that it turns out well for him and the court shows its human side," said honorary club president Franz Beckenbauer on Sky TV on Sunday.

http://soccerly.com/article/soccerl...-authorities-by-admitting-to-bigger-tax-fraud

 

On Tuesday, Uli Hoeness cheered his club from the stands as they progressed to the next round in the Champions League against Arsenal. on Thursday, the former Germany international and president of Bayern Munich sat in silence as a judge sentenced him to three and a half years in jail for tax fraud calculated to have cost the state more than €28.5m.

Hoeness, who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1974, last year admitted to squirrelling large profits made on the stock market into a Swiss bank account, opting for what German law calls "voluntary disclosure", where evaders can avoid trial by detailing taxes they have skipped and paying them back with 6% interest.But during this week's trial in Munich, it not only emerged that the sums Hoeness evaded were almost 10 times higher than previously assumed, but also that he failed to disclose his accounts within the rules.

Prosecutor Achim von Engel described the case as a "particularly grave case of tax evasion", calling for five and a half years in prison. The defence sought a suspended sentence and now has a week to appeal against the verdict.

Even before the sentencing, the most high-profile tax evasion trial in German history has already had a noticeable effect: more than 26,000 German tax evaders have opted for voluntary disclosure since the Hoeness revelations hit the headlines in 2013. In Bavaria alone, the figure has quadrupled since 2012.

Reactions varied from fans' laments to those decrying the sentence for leniency. The country's largest-selling tabloid, Bild, welcomed the verdict: "Bitter for Hoeness, good for tax justice", ran the headline. On Twitter, Daniel Mack, a Green politician, called the sentence "the longest sending-off in Bundesliga history".

Hoeness's defence lawyer, Hanns Feigen, had repeatedly drawn attention to the social causes to which the Bayern president had committed himself. Strong-willed and often disliked by other teams' fans, Hoeness also had a reputation for running Germany's most successful club with the genial atmosphere of a family business.

He arranged for his former strike partner Gerd Müller to be given a job at the club when the retired star was suffering from alcoholism, and organised support for another player, the talented midfielder Sebastian Deisler, who was blighted by bouts of depression. Repeatedly lauded for his charity work, Hoeness told Bild said in 2005: "I know it's stupid, but I pay all my taxes." The details that have emerged over the last 15 months paint a different picture. Between 2001 and 2010, he made more than 50,000 stockmarket transactions. A self-confessed luddite when it came to using computers, Hoeness conducted most of his deals via a hand-held pager, often during matches or boardroom meetings. Among Bayern colleagues, the gadget was jokingly known as Hoeness's "Tamagochi".

Asked in an interview with Die Zeit if he was addicted to gambling, Hoeness said: "I don't consider myself ill, if that's what you mean ... Maybe I was close to it for a couple of years. But nowadays I consider myself cured." His son Florian, 34, had interjected to point out that "the family begs to differ a little on this point".

With Barcelona having recently been charged for tax fraud over the signing of Brazilian star Neymar, two of Europe's most successful clubs are now under pressure to repair their reputation. Bayern say they won't comment on the sentence until after the appeal, though a statement on the future of the club's presidency from the supervisory board – which contains high-profile executives from Adidas, German Telekom, Volkswagen and Audi – is expected on Friday.

On Saturday, Bayern will play Bayer Leverkusen in the German league. If Hoeness attends, it is likely to be the last match he will watch in person for some time.

http://www.theguardian.com/football...e-and-a-half-years-prison-tax-evasion-germany

 

I imagine he'll go to a pretty plushy prison and not be in with murderers and rapists?
Someone that rich would get eaten alive in jail, imagine if he was put in a cell with a Dortmund fan

 

Gladbach have been incredibly lucky today.

Fed up of seeing the slightest bit of contact with a goalie given as a foul as well. Just cost us a good goal.

 

Well that game raped me on 365.

 

Ony the 6 goals in the Hoffenheim game today.

 

looking good for Bayern Munich again today super football.

 

[ame]http://youtu.be/vRcxtQWWMag[/ame]

 

40 mins into Hoffenheim game.Overs and out again :smiley-laughing002:

 

The top 2 German Divisions rejected goal-line technology.

 

http://cricfree.tv/live/watch/borussia_dortmund_vs_schalke/31825

Borussia Dortmund x Schalke 04

 

Bayern Munich are now German champions after a 3-1 win at Hertha Berlin.