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11 March 2004
MUNICH – An extraordinary associates meeting has been called for Friday in connection with the bribery affair around a construction contract for Munich’s football World Cup 2006 stadium.
In addition, Bayern Munich, who run the stadium company together with crosstown rivals 1860 Munich, announced on Thursday that they have called in independent accountants in an effort to restore trust in the project.
“Every bill will be turned upside down. Trust has to be restored,” said Bayern Munich spokesman Markus Hoerwick.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that his club will provide all of its “resources and knowhow” to win back trust and ensure at the associates’ meeting that the stadium construction is continued “in a correct and serious way”.
Neither Germany’s number 1 club Bayern Munich nor World Cup organisers can afford bad publicity around the affair in which the son of 1860 boss Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, Karl-Heinz Wildmoser jun. seemingly is the principle offender.
The two Wildmosers and two other men (of which one was released on Wednesday) were arrested on Tuesday as prosecutors alleged that confidential information was given about a tender for the stadium to an Austrian company, Alpine, that was then awarded the EUR 280 million contract.
Alpine is said to have paid EUR 2.8 million for the information, but Ziegler said that no such information was passed on. Wildmoser jun. allegedly used the money for a financially troubled real estate company in Dresden.
The World Cup stadium, the Allianz Arena, is being jointly built by Bayern and 1860 Munich. Wildmoser’s son is one of two CEO’s of the Allianz Arena company, Bayern Munich’s ex-president Fritz Scherer the other.
The Allianz Arena will host the opening match on 9 June 2006, as well as five further games at the World Cup.
Also on Thursday, lawyers were set to meet prosecutors on Thursday to seek the release from detention of Wildmoser sen. after his son reportedly told prosecutors that he received the money and that his father knew nothing of the affair.
“It appears as if a decision will be reached by Friday,” said lawyer Florian Ufer.
But the Wildmosers (the son is head of 1860s football division) are not likely to have a future at the club Karl-Heinz sen. has presided over since 1992.
“I believe that the scandal has such a dimension that they won’t be able to continue as if nothing has happened,” said Munich major Christian Ude, who is a member of the club’s supervisory board.
DPA
Subject: German news