Disgraced ex-Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, pictured in May 2015, served half of his three-and-a-half year sentence after being convicted in March 2014 of having evaded paying at least 28.5 million euros in taxes. PHOTO/AFP
BERLIN, Monday 29 – Disgraced ex-Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness was released from prison on Monday after serving 21 months for tax evasion, Germany’s national news agency quoted a regional official as saying.
The 64-year-old served half of his three-and-a-half year sentence after being convicted in March 2014 of having evaded paying at least 28.5 million euros ($31.5 million) in taxes.
Bavaria’s justice minister announced his release, which had been expected, to DPA news agency but gave no further details.
Hoeness, the son of a German butcher, rose to fame as the driving force behind Bayern’s rise before his fall from grace.
He was granted day release in January 2015, and immediately started working in the club’s youth academy
“It’s not over!” was Hoeness’s battle cry to FC Bayern in May 2014, shortly before starting his sentence.
He has said he will announce his future plans on July 1.
The date coincides with the start of Carlo Ancelotti’s reign as Bayern’s coach to replace Pep Guardiola.
His first public engagement will be at a ceremony to honour Jupp Heynckes, who coached Bayern to the 2013 treble, in Moenchengladbach on March 13.
Three days later, Hoeness will be at Munich’s Allianz Arena to watch Bayern’s Champions League last 16, second leg at home to Juventus.
During his playing career, Hoeness was a central midfielder at the heart of the Bayern team which won the European Cup three times between 1974-76.
A persistent knee injury forced the 1974 World Cup winner to retire at just 27 and he became the club’s youngest-ever manager.
When Franz Beckenbauer stood down as Bayern president in 2009, Hoeness succeeded him after a 30-year apprenticeship.
But behind the scenes, he was obsessively gambling millions on stocks and currencies via his Swiss bank accounts.
He served his sentence in Landsberg prison, where Adolf Hitler wrote “Mein Kampf”.
