Germany

Former German soccer president in trouble over luxury watch

Published Apr. 5, 2019 7:01 a.m. ET

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Former German soccer federation president Reinhard Grindel could be in trouble with customs officials because of an undeclared luxury watch.

Nadja Niesen of the prosecutors' office in Frankfurt tells news agency dpa that it has opened a preliminary probe and investigations could follow.

Grindel, who resigned from the federation on Tuesday, said in his resignation letter that he received a watch worth about 6,000 euros ($6,700) from then-UEFA vice president and executive committee member Grigoriy Surkis as a personal gift in Geneva.

However, Grindel evidently failed to declare the watch when he returned to Germany.

Goods worth more than 430 euros ($480) brought into the country via air travel should be declared. Grindel said in his resignation that he would report the watch to customs.

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