AFVD accuses Ex-President Robert Huber: Wiped computers, suspicious payments, & changed contracts
The American Football Federation of Germany (American Football Verband Deutschland, AFVD) the governing body of one of Europe’s leading football countries has major issues heading into the 2023 season.
This past November, the AFVD elected its first new president in 25 years. According to reports from the new AFVD, the transition of power has been anything but smooth, as they claim that former president Robert Huber and his committee have apparently sabotaged the new leadership.
A litany of allegations of gross misconduct have been made toward ex-president Huber from the AFVD. Wiped computers, unusual financial transfers, self-serving contract changes, and a year’s worth of missing accounting information have apparently left the new leadership bewildered and deeply disturbed.
In order to better understand what is happening to the governing body of American football in Germany, we have to go back to the November 19th elections.
After 25 years as president of the AFVD, Robert Huber, whose popularity was allegedly waning prior to the new election, stepped down from his role just days before the assembly. Huber was then a no–show at the November elections, leading to Fuad Merdanovic being elected as the AFVD’s new president.
As head of one of the leading American football nations in the world, Huber’s presidency was not without its controversy. He was a pivotal figure in the division of the International Federation of American Football in 2015 into two factions, a situation that was not resolved for almost three years. During the 2015 Congress, a group of nations, including Germany, walked out of the meeting and held their own Congress. From then until late 2017, Huber was a key player in the breakaway “IFAF Paris” faction with the original IFAF, “IFAF New York” faction in clear opposition. Countries were torn between the two groups and international tournaments were difficult to organize. In 2017, the International Court of Arbitration, CAS, ruled in favor of IFAF New York, thus ultimately ending the action of this group of nations and starting the reunification of IFAF.
Going back to this year, what at first seemed like a relatively cordial transfer of power, quickly turned into a legal, financial, and organizational mess as Huber and his committee left the new AFVD leadership with several major issues thwarting the progress of the organization.
Former AFVD President Robert Huber
Wiped Computers
According to the AFVD, in one of Merdanovic’s first acts as new president, he asked to meet with Huber along with former vice presidents Thomas Meyer and Jan Bublitz. Huber failed to attend.
In the following week, another meeting took place with Robert Huber, in which, among other things, two computers were handed over. However, apparently both computers were completely erased the day before the handover, leaving the new leadership with no digital accounting data and organizational documents. A reminder was sent to hand over the missing documents and was met with no response.
The new AFVD’s finance team now is responsible for re-doing the entire 2022 year and is currently reviewing the 2021 year as well. Once the proper information is gathered, they can move forward with a 2023 budget.
In addition to this, Huber and the old leadership allegedly canceled the AFVD’s office lease in Frankfurt’s PSD Arena leaving Merdanovic and his team with the task of finding a new office.
Former AFVD Vice Presidents Thomas Meyer & Jan Bublitz
Financial Allegations
According to the new AFVD board, when Merdanovic met with Huber’s former committee Thomas Meyer, Jan Bublitz, Uwe Talke, and Josef Andres, several questions surrounding the AFVD’s finances remained unanswered.
It seems that former AFVD President Robert Huber has left the new leadership with a colossal mess.
In the days before the election, numerous contracts were allegedly signed between the AFVD and Huber’s own private company. In addition, there were ‘unusual account movements‘ -via AFVD statement in the days leading up the election and the widely suspected replacement of Huber and his committee.
Unfortunately, none of the four ex-committee members provided helpful insight into these contracts. Although Meyer and Andres signed nearly every contract, and all payments were approved by Meyer, according to the new AFVD, the ex-committee members claimed to have no knowledge or further information on the payments.
Germany – 2022 – Oct. 8 – Unicorns win German Bowl – Photos: M. Löffler & C. Götze
German Bowl Contract Alterations
In previous years, the hosting company of the German Bowl championship game had paid a guaranteed sum of €50,000 to the AFVD for the right to host the event.
In 2022, GFS GmbH, a company whose sole shareholder is Robert Huber, signed a contract with the same provisions guaranteeing the AFVD €50,000 for the right to host the championship event in Frankfurt’s PSD Arena.
However, according to the AFVD, GFS GmbH and the AFVD apparently altered this contract in August just weeks before the German Bowl, leaving the AFVD without the €50,000 it had initially signed to receive.
These changes were not shared with the AFVD’s regional board members, as this contract alteration only came to light after the election handover in November.
Legal Recourse
Many are expecting the AFVD to take legal action against Huber and his former staff. However, this process could take months to unfold, according to Christian Düncher, a law firm has already been hired to take a look at the best legal recourse for the situation.
The new AFVD Committee has their work cut out for them now as they must find a new office, redo the accounting of the past two years and propose a 2023 budget along with several additional hurdles.
In other words, according to reports from the AFVD, Huber has apparently left the AFVD in a precarious situation.
Huber is currently said to be on vacation and has not provided a statement.
Read the AFVD’s statements on Huber here
