The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund e.V. (DEB) was able to provide its members with the summary of the final report of the independent investigation last week.
On October 5, 2021, the DEB The law firm verte|rechtsanwälte was commissioned to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations made against the Presidium of the DOSB through media reporting and the draft report of the DOSB Ombudsman dated September 10, 2021 DEB and other people. As part of the five-month internal and independent investigation with the collaboration of a total of eight lawyers from the firm, over 300 documents were viewed and oral and written interviews were conducted with relevant people, provided they were willing to participate.
The key findings of the 221-page final report on this investigation have now been communicated to members and media representatives in a summary presentation
Franz Reindl, DEB-President: “The summary and the result of the independent investigation show that we as a whole board – and I personally – always act in accordance with the law and for the DEB have worked with value. I am glad that the independent investigation confirms this because I have always acted with a clear conscience and in the best interests of the... DEB and German ice hockey.”
The Sports Information Service (SID) reported as follows:
“The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB) has presented a report that exonerates its President Franz Reindl, who is under pressure. After a five-month investigation, the Cologne law firm Verte came to the conclusion that criminal allegations against the 67-year-old had not been confirmed.
The question was whether Reindl would be an honorary association president and paid managing director DEB-Daughter could have come into a conflict of interest. The Swiss marketer Infront provided loans to this subsidiary. At the same time, Reindl negotiated for the DEB Contracts with Infront. According to the report, the conditions are "standard for the industry" and the association suffered no disadvantage.
Reindl's work as managing director of the DEB-Daughter even after the 2017 home World Cup is justified by the fact that a new World Cup application was prepared. The association has now applied for the 2027 World Cup. Besides, that was DEB GmbH responsible for sponsor acquisition and sponsorship management.
The allegation that this structure was used to finance Reindl's remuneration alone has not been confirmed, according to the expert opinion. Reindl has "consistently provided services". DEB had commissioned the report.”
A complete publication of the summary is not possible for data protection reasons. If you have any questions, please send an email to daniel.goldstein@deb-online.de.