Bundesliga scandal

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The events surrounding the relegation battle in the Bundesliga season 1970/71 , when the clubs Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Arminia Bielefeld managed to remain in the 1st Bundesliga due to manipulated point games are described as a Bundesliga scandal .

history

The "postponement" of games was discovered by the club president of Kickers Offenbach , Horst-Gregorio Canellas , who surprised the guests by playing a tape on the celebration of his 50th birthday on June 6, 1971. The recordings of various phone calls that could be heard dealt with match-fixing and bribery payments . Head coach Helmut Schön left the party horrified . Media representatives reported on the scandal in the Bundesliga. The tape was also played to the German Football Association (DFB) with the voices of the players who made Canella's clear offers of bribery (including the national players Bernd Patzke and Manfred Manglitz ), as Kickers Offenbach was also threatened with relegation.

In the investigation led by the DFB chief prosecutor Hans Kindermann it was found that, among other things, the Bundesliga game of FC Schalke 04 against Arminia Bielefeld (April 17, 1971, final score 0: 1) had been "sold" by Gelsenkirchen players. As a result, almost all players in the Schalke team were sentenced to game bans in 1973. The best-known convicts were the national players Stan Libuda (for life, pardoned after two years), Klaus Fichtel (for life, pardoned after six months) and Klaus Fischer (for life, toned down to one year). Even Manfred Manglitz , keeper of 1. FC Köln , has been banned twice for life (and pardoned after two years). In addition to these sports court judgments, there were also proceedings before ordinary courts , partly because of perjuries .

A total of 52 players, two coaches ( Egon Piechaczek from Arminia Bielefeld and Günter Brocker from Rot-Weiß Oberhausen) and six club officials were punished - including Canellas for taking the bribe offers on the phone. DM 1.1 million in bribe payments were revealed. In addition, the clubs Arminia Bielefeld and Kickers Offenbach have had their Bundesliga license withdrawn. For Bielefeld this was associated with forced relegation and a "ghost season" in 1972; H. Arminia was allowed to end the 1971/72 season, but points were only counted for the opponents. The clubs with the most affected players were Hertha BSC (15 players) and Eintracht Braunschweig (16 players).

The Rot-Weiss Essen association , which was relegated in 1971 for manipulating others, was not granted any compensation. Nevertheless, after two years he made the leap back to the Bundesliga.

The affected games

April 17, 1971 (28th matchday)

FC Schalke 04 - Arminia Bielefeld 0-1

Arminia Bielefeld paid 40,000 DM, 2,300 DM per player, to the Schalke team. Only the Schalke goalkeeper Dieter Burdenski , who was not in the decisive training camp, should not have been informed. In the 83rd minute, Bielefeld scored to win. As previously announced, Burdenski moved to Bielefeld at the end of the season.

May 5, 1971 (catch-up game on matchday 24)

1. FC Cologne - Rot-Weiss Essen 3-2

Cologne goalkeeper Manfred Manglitz demanded 25,000 DM on the phone from Offenbach's President Canellas before the game, otherwise he would “let some things through” against Offenbach's competitor Rot-Weiss Essen. Canellas paid.

May 22, 1971 (32nd matchday)

1. FC Cologne - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2-4

Manglitz was bribed again.

MSV Duisburg - Arminia Bielefeld 4: 1

Duisburg's Gerd Kentschke accepted 60,000 DM, but did not inaugurate the entire team and paid the money back after the MSV victory except for his own share.

May 29, 1971 (33rd matchday)

Arminia Bielefeld - VfB Stuttgart 1-0

Bielefeld paid DM 15,000 each to three players. In addition, there were 25,000 DM "additional costs" for the money messengers. Bielefeld scored the winning goal in the 69th minute.

June 5, 1971 (34th matchday)

Eintracht Braunschweig - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1: 1

Arminia Bielefeld offered the Braunschweig team an additional victory bonus of initially 120,000 DM, later 170,000 DM. 100,000 DM were paid in advance, 40,000 DM after the game.

Hertha BSC - Arminia Bielefeld 0: 1

Offenbach's President Canellas offered Hertha players Bernd Patzke and Tasso Wild 140,000 DM for a win against Bielefeld, but an Arminia manager had already offered 220,000 DM for a Hertha defeat and paid 250,000 DM after the Bielefeld victory.

1. FC Cologne - Kickers Offenbach 4: 2

Canellas asked the Cologne goalkeeper Manglitz how much he would have to pay for his Kickers to win. Manglitz demanded 100,000 DM for himself and five of his teammates.

Kickers Offenbach and Rot-Weiss Essen were relegated after the last game day. Bielefeld had saved itself from relegation through the purchased victory.

The punished players

Hertha BSC

VfB Stuttgart

  • Hans Arnold : from October 23, 1971 ban for life, 15,000 DM fine, pardoned on August 1, 1973
  • Hartmut Weiß , Hans Eisele : from January 22, 1972 ban for life, 15,000 DM fine, pardoned on August 1, 1973

FC Schalke 04

  • Klaus Fichtel : Ineligibility from March 18, 1973 to March 17, 1975, from June 25, 1973 released for foreign countries, DM 2,300 fine, pardoned on January 24, 1974, ineligible from January 3, 1978 to January 22, 1978, fine DM 10,000 to the cancer aid
  • Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp , Rolf Rüssmann , Herbert Lütkebohmert : all blocked from March 18, 1973 to February 28, 1974, release for foreign countries from June 25, 1973, DM 2,300 fine, pardoned on January 24, 1974, blocked from February 21, 1976 until March 24, 1976 and from December 9, 1976 to January 14, 1977, 10,000 DM fine in favor of cancer aid
  • Manfred Pohlschmidt : from August 5, 1972 suspension for life, 2,300 DM fine, pardoned on January 25, 1978
  • Hans Pirkner : Ban from August 5, 1972 to August 4, 1974, DM 2,300 fine, pardoned on August 15, 1973 by the ÖFB
  • Jürgen Sobieray : Ineligibility from August 5, 1972 to September 30, 1973, from February 21, 1976 to March 24, 1976 and from December 9, 1976 to January 14, 1977, DM 2,300 fine and DM 10,000 to the cancer aid, clearance for abroad from June 25, 1973
  • Klaus Fischer : Ban from September 30, 1972 to September 30, 1973, from February 21, 1976 to March 24, 1976 and from December 9, 1976 to January 14, 1977, DM 2,300 fine and DM 10,000 for cancer aid, release for foreign countries
  • Reinhard Libuda : from September 30, 1972 suspension for life, 2,300 DM fine, pardoned on January 5, 1974
  • Dieter Burdenski : Ineligibility from February 4, 1973 to May 21, 1973, DM 2,300 fine, pardoned on May 15, 1973
  • Klaus Senger : Ban from February 21, 1976 to June 30, 1976
  • Jürgen Galbierz : Ineligibility from August 5, 1972 to August 4, 1974, DM 2,300 fine, pardoned on August 6, 1973
  • Heinz van Haaren : Ban from April 25, 1973 to April 24, 1975, DM 2,300 fine

Arminia Bielefeld

  • Waldemar Slomiany : Ban from April 8, 1972 to July 31, 1974
  • Jürgen Neumann : from October 23, 1971 ban for life, 15,000 DM fine, pardoned on August 20, 1976; since Neumann did not pay, his license to play was revoked on December 11, 1978 .

MSV Duisburg

  • Volker Danner : Ban from April 26, 1972 to August 25, 1972
  • Gerd Kentschke : blocked for ten years from April 8, 1972, fine DM 2,500, pardoned on August 1, 1973

Eintracht Braunschweig

1. FC Cologne

The punished coach

  • Egon Piechaczek (Arminia Bielefeld): suspended for life on April 15, 1972, pardoned on April 1, 1975
  • Günter Brocker (Rot-Weiß Oberhausen): Ban from November 11, 1972 to November 10, 1974

The punished officials

  • Horst-Gregorio Canellas (Offenbach): suspended for life on July 24, 1971, pardoned on December 16, 1976
  • Friedrich Mann, Fritz Koch, Waldemar Klein (all Offenbach): all closed from July 24, 1971 to July 1, 1972
  • Peter Maaßen (Oberhausen): Ban from July 7, 1972 to July 6, 1974
  • Wolfgang Holst (Hertha BSC): Ban from March 24, 1973 to March 23, 1978, pardoned on December 20, 1977

The punished clubs

Only two of the clubs involved were fined:

  • Kickers Offenbach was revoked on July 24, 1971, the license for two years, but 1972 succeeded again.
  • Arminia Bielefeld was revoked on April 15, 1972 and transferred to the regional league . In addition, the association had to pay a fine of 50,000 DM.

To this day, critics accuse those responsible of having judged too quickly and superficially because of the upcoming 1974 World Cup in Germany .

South Africa

Several of the banned players then moved to South Africa because this country was not part of FIFA at the time: Volkmar Groß, Jürgen Weber, Arno Steffenhagen moved to Hellenic Cape Town, Wolfgang Gayer and Bernd Patzke to Durban City. Hans Pirkner also considered such a step, with Pretoria FC being named as a possible club.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Augsburger Allgemeine", article rumors, denials, lies, complaints from March 18, 2006
  2. ↑ From this time comes the name FC Schalke 04, especially used by supporters of the Ruhr area rivals, as “FC perjury”.
  3. ↑ a b Background: The Bundesliga scandal of 1971. In: Spiegel Online. January 23, 2005, accessed May 7, 2015 .
  4. ↑ According to other sources, however, Burdenski later admitted the assumption of a good 2,000 DM, cf. For example Hardy Grüne: Glaube Liebe Schalke , Göttingen 2012 (3rd edition), pages 219 and 228
  5. ^ A b c Claudia Kracht: The Bundesliga scandal 1971. In: planet-wissen.de. June 12, 2014, accessed May 7, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Saturday, May 29, 1971, 3:30 p.m., Bielefelder Alm, Bielefeld, Germany. In: dfb.de, accessed on February 4, 2018.
  7. ↑ 04 Jürgen Rumor. Interview. In: Ex-Herthaner (wordpress.com). March 2006, accessed on May 7, 2015 : “When I told the team (offer of 250,000 DM from Bielefeld by Manager Neumann) , Patzke and Wild mentioned Offenbach's offer practically at the same time, which would pay 10,000 DM per player if we Beat Bielefeld. That was then hotly debated in the team. Of course, we assumed we would win this game, which would have given us both a bonus from Hertha BSC and the money from Offenbach. The bottom line was that we would have gotten the same amount of money as we would with a defeat, so it was clear to us that we would play to win. At a second meeting with Neumann, however, I was confronted with the statement that Gergely and Varga had already received money from the Bielefeld team. When I followed the game from the stands, it was also clear that there was little engagement from the two of them. ... After the team was playing to win, of course everyone was a little bit bent that they suddenly had no bonus in their hands. I then mentioned that the 250,000 marks from Bielefeld were actually still ready to be picked up. After all, I had neither accepted nor canceled the Bielefeld team before the game. So I called Neumann after the game and quickly found out that he actually assumed we had lost the game on purpose. Then I sent him a middleman who picked up the money for us. "
  8. ↑ Middle: "Pirkner to South Africa?" In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna November 7, 1972, p. 15 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).

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