Gelsenkirchen/Frankfurt – Nationwide raid because of the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany! With more than 150 investigators, the North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office searched the DFB headquarters on Wednesday morning. Town halls and city administrations in the venues at the time are also being checked.
Reason for the Raid include the investigations against a German (66) and a Frenchman (46). It’s about hotel invitations and several thousand tickets that may have been illegally given out internally to preferred guests before our home European Championship. There is a suspicion of “structured granting of advantages” and therefore bribery. Employees of city administrations throughout Germany can also be affected.
The Gelsenkirchen town hall is also being searched
Invitation to the European Championship semi-finals
The background: “Euro 2024 GmbH”, a joint venture, was responsible for organizing the tournament DFB and UEFA, were founded. The 46-year-old Frenchman took care of relations with the venues there – and is said to have invited the then heads of the respective “EM offices” in the cities to top games. In the case of the 66-year-old German, it was about the very attractive and popular semi-final game between Spain and France in Munich. Including travel and hotel costs, the ex-administrative employee from Gelsenkirchen is said to have gained a financial advantage of around 2,400 euros. One case among many?
Investigators in the Gelsenkirchen town hall
“Whoever holds out their hand will receive a visit from us”
The Gelsenkirchen resident was already suspected of fraud and embezzlement has come to the attention of the police and no longer works for the city. His house will also be searched on Wednesday. There is currently no police information against the Frenchman.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (73, CDU) to BILD: “A football ticket is not part of your salary. Anyone who offers a hand in the public service will receive a visit from us. Large events such as the European Football Championship in particular depend on people’s trust – in the sport and in the authorities who make it possible. We will not let this trust be damaged by a few invitations and tickets.”
The DFB campus in Frankfurt/Main
Searches in Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin
Whether and to what extent tickets and invitations were accepted is now the subject of the proceedings. The investigative commission is therefore searching the city administrations of Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart and Munich. Also raided on two companies in North Rhine-Westphaliaa company in Bavaria and at the headquarters of the German Football Association in Frankfurt/Main as the then headquarters of “Euro 2024 GmbH”. A so-called release request is executed by the Leipzig city administration.