MUNICH (AP) - After serving 21 months of a 3 1/2 year-prison sentence for tax evasion, Uli Hoeness is set to return to his previous position as president of German giant Bayern Munich.
Bayern’s management advisory board unanimously proposed Hoeness on Saturday as the only candidate up for election by members at its annual general meeting on Nov. 25.
Current president Karl Hopfner is not seeking re-election, the Bundesliga champion said.
Hoeness quit as Bayern president in March 2014 after being sentenced to prison for evading millions of euros in taxes via an undeclared Swiss bank account. He was released in February after serving half of the sentence.
The 64-year-old Hoeness remained close to Bayern while in custody, benefiting from a work-release program in the club’s youth department during the day before returning to prison overnight.
As a player, Hoeness won the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup with West Germany and three straight European Cups - the predecessor of the Champions League - with Bayern before retiring in 1979 with chronic knee problems.
Under his guidance as general manager, Bayern built financial reserves rarely seen in debt-ridden European soccer.
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