Overview
- In RTLZWEI’s Armes Deutschland, the 64-year-old shows a dilapidated apartment in Stadtallendorf furnished with friends’ cast-offs and says he survives on €563 in Bürgergeld.
- Immel estimates he squandered at least €10 million, citing a costly divorce, unsuccessful property bets and an expensive lifestyle after earning top salaries in the Bundesliga and at Manchester City.
- He says he occasionally coaches goalkeepers on an unpaid basis and insists he wants to leave Bürgergeld by rebuilding his life.
- A Marburg court in August convicted him of 107 counts of fraud and sentenced him to two years and two months in prison over roughly €34,000 in unpaid personal loans; the judgment is not yet final and his lawyer signaled a challenge.
- The broadcast has intensified public debate in Germany over Bürgergeld eligibility, personal responsibility and what support clubs should provide former professionals after retirement.