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A player advisor from Ukraine has to answer for falsification of documents before the Darmstadt District Court. However, the man only claims to have acted as an interpreter.
A 55-year-old man from Andernach in Rhineland-Palatinate has been tried since Wednesday before the Darmstadt district court on suspicion of forging documents and an alleged offense under the Residence Act. The public prosecutor’s office accuses the Ukrainian citizen of planning to hire a compatriot as a coach and scout in his company four years ago as managing director of a football player advisory agency.
However, the required visa application in Kiev was rejected at the end of October 2016. Therefore, at the end of April 2017, the defendant is said to have asked the team manager of the then Bundesliga club SV Darmstadt 98 to arrange an urgent appointment with the Darmstadt immigration authorities. At the start of the process, it was also clear that the association would be given preferential treatment in the city’s immigration office with the backing of the town hall’s top. Both team manager Michael Stegmayer and SV-98 board member Tom Eilers as well as a clerk of the authority confirmed this.
At the appointment in the authority at the beginning of May 2017, the accused player’s agent and his compatriot, who applied for a residence and work permit, appeared. A copy of an employment contract with the Darmstädter Lilien logo and a completed declaration of membership of the health insurance company, in which the association was also listed as an employer, were also submitted.
The public prosecutor’s office accuses the defendant of having drawn up the contract himself with his compatriot by combining the text of a sample employment contract of the Association of German Football Teachers with the logo of the 98s and the logo of the German Football Association. As “the board member of the association authorized to conclude the contract according to the statutes”, the defendant is said to have signed the contract with an altered signature. On the basis of the employment contract, the alleged lily trainer was issued a residence permit. Later the authority noticed inconsistencies, so they contacted the association and filed a criminal complaint.
On the first day of the trial, the defendant denied the allegations and claimed to have only acted as an interpreter. The 55-year-old also accused his compatriot of having brought the falsified contracts to the authorities. However, the court has been looking for the man in vain in recent months. The trial will continue on December 9th.
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