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BAYERN MUNICH

State accepts Hoeneß sentence

German football legend and former Bayern Munich boss Uli Hoeneß is to go to jail for tax fraud after prosecutors said on Monday they would not appeal the verdict.

State accepts Hoeneß sentence
Photo: DPA

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Public prosecutors said in a statement that they did not plan to contest the three-and-a-half-year prison term handed down last week to Hoeneß, 62.

Hoeneß was sentenced on Thursday for cheating the state out of €28.5 million after a four-day trial that riveted football-obsessed Germany.

He admitted hiding his wealth in secret Swiss bank accounts while obsessively "gambling" on stock and currency markets for years before seeking to come clean in return for immunity from prosecution.

After the verdict was handed down, he walked out of the courtroom in the southern city of Munich pending an initially-planned appeal.

But a day later Hoeneß announced he would forego appealing the sentence, resigning from his posts as president and board chairman of the champion club where he spent four decades.

The prosecution, which had called for a longer jail term, had also been considering an appeal.

"The Munich II public prosecutor's office will, in the criminal proceedings against Ulrich Hoeneß over tax fraud, not file an appeal against the verdict," its statement said.

No date has been set yet for Hoeneß to begin his jail term, but it is expected to start in the next few weeks.

READ MORE: Bayern boss resigns and heads to jail

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FOOTBALL

Bayern Munich sack youth coach at centre of racism row

Bayern Munich, who face Lyon in a Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, have fired a coach from their youth academy amid a police investigation into allegations of racism.

Bayern Munich sack youth coach at centre of racism row
Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman wearing a T-shirt that says: 'Red against racism' on June 10th. Photo: DPA.

The coach, who was not named, has had his contract terminated “by mutual agreement”, the German league and cup champions said in a statement late Monday.

The sacking is “the first result of an internal survey currently under way” at the youth training academy, it added.

Bayern Munich boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said last week he was “furious” after hearing of the allegations, first reported by the ARD broadcaster.

The coach is accused of making racist and other discriminatory comments in a series of messages, which he initially denied but later admitted, according to German media.

He had been a youth coach at the club since 2003 and had been in charge of children's and youth teams since 2006, according to the weekly Der Spiegel.

He made discriminatory comments based on skin colour, nationality, religion and sexual orientation, Spiegel reported.

These comments “do not correspond at all with the values that Bayern Munich represents”, Rummenigge said after police in Munich opened an investigation into the allegations.

READ ALSO: Bayern Munich Academy employee investigated over racism allegations

Bayern Munich was founded by German Jews in 1900, but all Jewish managers and players were excluded after Hitler came to power in 1933.

In June, not long after the death in the US of black man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, the entire team were pictured wearing t-shirts bearing the slogans “Black lives matter” and “Red card to racism”.

The club also launched a major anti-racism campaign in March, following incidents in German stadiums.

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