FRANKFURT — German officers raided the headquarters of the German Football Federation (DFB) in Frankfurt on July 1, 2026. The raids are part of a corruption probe linked to tickets for the Euro 2024 football tournament.

Law enforcement also conducted raids at municipal offices in nine German cities: Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Munich. Investigators are focusing on allegations that multiple cities received thousands of tickets for the tournament at preferential prices.

The Bochum Public Prosecutor's Office and the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office of Criminal Investigation are leading the probe, which involves suspicion of accepting and granting undue advantages. Authorities issued a request for the surrender of evidence to the Leipzig city administration and plan to carry out searches at two companies in North Rhine-Westphalia and one company in Bavaria.

According to security sources, the investigation centers on a 66-year-old German national and a 46-year-old French national. The 66-year-old suspect is a former employee of the Gelsenkirchen city administration. He is alleged to have been invited to Munich for the Euro 2024 semi-final between Spain and France and to have gained a financial advantage of approximately €2,400. This individual is no longer employed by the city of Gelsenkirchen and had previously attracted police attention on suspicion of fraud, withholding, and misappropriating wages. Similar invitations were reportedly extended to Euro 2024 project managers in other host cities.

A DFB spokesman stated the probe was not directed against the federation itself. The Bochum Public Prosecutor's Office and North Rhine-Westphalia State Office of Criminal Investigation stated, "The investigations concern alleged unauthorized favors including attendance to a football game among others that an accused individual, who was working for a host city at the time, is said to have received from officials of the organizing entity." They added that officials from the organizing entity seemingly offered host cities exclusive rights of first refusal for tickets, which were then exercised and used in various ways.

Herbert Reus, interior minister in North Rhine-Westphalia, commented on the situation. "A football ticket is not part of [a civil servant's] salary. Anyone in the civil service who holds out their hand for money will get a visit from us," Reus said. Prosecutors stated that the accused have not yet had the opportunity to comment on the allegations and that the presumption of innocence applies.

Why It Matters

The investigation into alleged corruption surrounding Euro 2024 tickets impacts the integrity of a major international sporting event and local government operations. Euro 2024 GmbH, a subsidiary of UEFA Events SA and DFB EURO GmbH, is alleged to have distributed thousands of tickets for internal use to the 10 host cities. The focus on preferential ticket distribution at a large scale, involving multiple municipal offices and commercial entities across Germany, indicates a broad inquiry into potential improper benefits and practices.