Hoeneß re-elected as FC Bayern president

Munich: Last Friday, Uli Hoeneß was re-elected as FC Bayern Munich‘s president at the club’s Annual General Meeting, the German football club announced. He had been convicted of tax evasion in March 2014 during his previous tenure as the club’s president.

In all, 7,152 members attended the annual meeting where Hoeneß won the voting with 98.5%. He was the only candidate for president. Before the vote, he said, “I’m asking you for a second chance… I promise I’ll do everything I can to fulfil your expectations.”^((de))

In February, Hoeneß had been released early from his three-and-half-year jail term. While in custody, he spent his work-release programme with Bayern’s youth academy.

The 1974 FIFA World Cup winner and ex-Bayern Munich player was elected as the club president in 2009, succeeding Franz Beckenbauer, after spending 30 years as Bayern’s general manager.

In 2014, Hoeneß was tried after he disclosed he had evaded €3.5 million in taxes on his money in a Swiss Bank. The trial found the sum he owed to be about €28.5m (about US$37 million then). Hoeneß resigned as president the next day, and Karl Hopfner was elected president on 2 May of that year.

Hoeneß is now the club president again, succeeding Karl Hopfner who has spent 33 years at the club.

In the 2015–16 season, Bayern collected revenue of €626.8 million, which is the club’s record revenue.

Hoeneß was born in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg. The left-sided forward was recruited from amateurs TSG Ulm 1846 by Udo Lattek, then manager of Bundesligagiants FC Bayern Munich, at the age of 18, in 1970. The player immediately made an impact, scoring six times in 31 matches as the Bavarians finished in second position, behind Borussia Mönchengladbach, and adding the domestic cup.

During his eight-and-a-half-year stint with Bayern, Hoeneß enjoyed great success, winning a total of eight accolades, including three league titles and as many European Cups; in the 1973–74 edition of the latter competition, the final replay against Atlético Madrid, he produced one of his most outstanding performances ever, contributing with two goals to the 4–0 victory, in efficient counter-attacking moves. However, in the final of the following year’s European Cup, against Leeds United, he suffered a knee injury from which he never fully recovered.

In late 1978, Hoeneß was loaned to Bayern neighbours 1. FC Nürnberg, where it was hoped he could get more match practice. His recovery failed, however, and he was forced to hang up his boots at a mere 27. He had appeared in 250 matches in Germany’s top division, netting 86 times.

From Wikinews and Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 licence. Parts of this report have been edited to add clarity to the story.