Overview
- Investigators executed coordinated searches on Wednesday at the Deutscher Fussball-Bund headquarters in Frankfurt, town halls in multiple host cities and several companies with more than 150 officers reported to have taken part.
- Prosecutors in Bochum and the North Rhine-Westphalia criminal police say the inquiry targets alleged 'unauthorised advantages' including match attendance, travel and hotel stays tied to Euro 2024 ticket and hospitality allocations.
- Reporting and security sources identify two central suspects—a 66-year-old former Gelsenkirchen municipal employee and a 46-year-old French national—while officials say several thousand tickets and hospitality invitations may be implicated.
- The DFB confirmed its offices were searched and said the federation is not the direct target, while authorities stressed the presumption of innocence and warned that public servants who accept perks will face scrutiny.
- The probe focuses scrutiny on Euro 2024 GmbH’s reported practice of offering host cities priority ticket rights and raises wider questions about governance, public trust and how major events distribute hospitality, building on past DFB financial controversies.