Uli Hoeness is back in charge of Bayern Munich 270 days after his early release from a 42-month prison term for tax evasion.
Club members on Friday voted overwhelmingly for the 64-year-old Hoeness, who was the only candidate, to become president again. There were 7,152 votes for, 108 against and 58 abstentions.
Hoeness resigned from the position in March 2014, one day after he was convicted of avoiding taxes on at least 28.5 million euros (US$31 million) via an undeclared Swiss bank account. He was released in February after serving half of the sentence.
Photo: AFP
“To be standing here today, I thank my two families, mine and that of Bayern,” said Hoeness, who was applauded into the club’s annual general meeting. “I ask you for a second chance and I promise to do everything to fulfill your expectations.”
Hoeness also thanked the club’s management advisory board for proposing him unanimously for the position.
So many club members showed up for the AGM that it was delayed, with Hoeness and other club officials appealing to frustrated supporters to show understanding when the 6,000-capacity venue was full.
A separate 2,000-capacity tent was set up with screens to allow members to follow developments, but many late-arriving fans were unhappy not to be allowed into the main venue.
Some who persisted were eventually allowed in behind the stage.
Bayern said it now has 284,041 members, up from 270,329 last year.
Outgoing president Karl Hopfner was given a standing ovation after 33 years’ involvement with the club.
On the field, Timo Werner struck twice as promoted RB Leipzig crushed hosts SC Freiburg 4-1 to go six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their seventh consecutive victory.
LA LIGA
AP, BARCELONA, Spain
Sociedad Deportiva Eibar have taken La Liga’s smallest stadium and turned it into their very own fortress.
Eibar beat Real Betis Balompie 3-1 on Friday for their fifth win in seven home matches this season.
With a capacity of only 6,285, Estadio Ipurua fits the identity of the modest, but feisty Basque Country club and the northern working class town of Eibar that once thrived from small-arms manufacturing.
Eibar’s third win in a row at the ground lifted them past regional heavyweight Athletic Bilbao and into seventh place. Eibar also pulled level on points with title hopeful Atletico Madrid ahead of the rest of the round’s games.
“We know how important this stadium is for us,” said forward Pedro Leon, who scored Eibar’s opener. “We are competing well. The important thing is that we took the three points, because we can’t forget that we are Eibar and that we will suffer sooner or later.”
Japanese forward Takashi Inui led the hosts, earning a foul that left Betis a man down and playing a part in two goals.
Inui slipped past the defensive line and received a pass in the 17th minute when he was fouled by Cristiano Puccini from behind with only the goalkeeper to beat. That earned Piccini a sending off with a direct red card.
Leon converted the resulting free-kick from just outside the area into a goal with a right-footed strike that dipped over the barrier and beyond the reach of Antonio Adan.
Inui helped double the lead five minutes later when he fired in a well-placed cross for Sergi Enrich to stab home. Inui had a great chance to get a goal of his own late in the second half, but Adan made a superb one-handed save to deny him from close.
Betis striker Ruben Castro intercepted a poor pass by Florian Lejeune meant for his goalkeeper and scored with six minutes remaining.
Eibar substitute Enrique Garcia headed in a rebound to end Betis’ fightback in stoppage time.
Ipurua is by far the tiniest stadium in Spain’s first division. No other stadium for the 20 topflight teams has fewer than 10,000 seats. The average is about 40,000, with Barcelona’s Camp Nou able to seat 98,000, making it the largest in Europe.
LIGUE 1
AP, RENNES, France
Yoann Gourcuff scored a well-constructed goal on Friday to lead Stade Rennais to fourth place in the Ligue 1 standings with a 1-0 win over Toulouse.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite