Summer fairytale affair: The final battle of the World Cup process

While the 2006 World Cup trial for former DFB President Theo Zwanziger ends with a payment of 10,000 euros, things are now getting tighter for the association itself: The court is opening its own proceedings against him – and there is a threat of more than just a fine.

Shortly after eleven o'clock on Wednesday morning, Theo Zwanziger left the jury room of the Frankfurt Regional Court. The criminal proceedings against the former president of the German Football Association in the multi-million dollar scandal surrounding the 2006 World Cup lasted more than nine and a half years, almost 15 months of which were spent in the public main hearing before the Second Criminal Division at the Frankfurt Justice Center. Now it's over. The proceedings against him have been dropped in return for a payment of 10,000 euros to a charitable organization (Children's Heart Foundation).