Bayern Munich's honorary president Uli Hoeneß is set to appear as a witness in the trial of three former German Football Federation (DFB) officials accused of tax evasion linked to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, with Lothar Matthäus possibly next.
Judge Eva-Maria Distler announced on Thursday on the second day of the trial at the regional court in Frankfurt that Hoeneß would take the stand on April 15 - the scheduled fourth day.
The 72-year-old hinted on Sport1 TV in 2020 and in the podcast 11Leben in 2021 that he knew more than was in the public domain about a mysterious payment of millions of euros relating to the 2006 World Cup.
The DFB transferred €6.7 million ($7.3 million) to world governing body FIFA in April 2005.
Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach and Horst R. Schmidt are accused by prosecutors of allegedly including this sum in a tax return as a business expense in the profit calculation without authorization.
The money was supposedly for a gala which did not take place. Media reports have alleged the payment was connected to vote buying in the bid to host the 2006 tournament and involved German football great Franz Beckenbauer, who died in January.
This has never been proven and the trio are only on trial over the tax implications of the payment.
Hoeneß spent over a year in prison between 2014 and 2016 after being convicted of personal tax evasion.
Zwanziger said after Thursday's session adjourned that he would push his lawyers to try to bring in Germany's record appearance maker Matthäus as a witness.
"I will suggest Lothar Matthäus next. He was a bit closer to Franz Beckenbauer. You can rely on Lothar Matthäus to say something," Zwanziger told reporters.
The former DFB president had earlier told the court about the payment: "Whichever way you look at it, it's a business expense."
He added that authorities were confused about the year the payment was made and its implications.
"That will fall at the feet of the judiciary in Hesse," he said, referring to the German state where Frankfurt, where the DFB has its headquarters, is situated.
Zwanziger had already appeared confident of victory at the start of the trial and - unlike the two other defendants - did not request that the proceedings be dropped.
"I have the impression that the representatives of the prosecution know very well that they are on very thin ice and that there can and will be an acquittal for all three defendants," Zwanziger said on Monday.
The trial is scheduled to continue on March 28.
