Uli Hoeness returns

Uli Hoeness, the man who helped make Bayern Munich one of the world's most powerful clubs, was re-elected president of the Bavarian giants on Friday.

His election comes nine months after he was released from prison after serving half of a three-and-a-half-year sentence for tax evasion.

The 64-year-old was the only candidate for the role and a crushing majority voted in favour of his return at Bayern's annual general meeting in Munich.

Only 108 members voted against his return out of around 6,000 in attendance.

"I made a huge mistake, that is unquestionable," Hoeness said in an emotional speech before his election.

"I respect every person who doesn't vote for me because of this...but I have done everything to make up for what I did. I have paid my debt to the tax man right down to the last cent.

"And now I am here. I am asking you for a second chance and I promise you I will do everything to fulfil your expectations," he said to a standing ovation.

Hoeness had been sentenced in March 2014 after being found guilty of seven counts of tax evasion between 2003 and 2009 to the value of 28.5 million euros. The following day he resigned as Bayern's president.

Earlier the German champions announced record turnover for the 2015-16 financial year of 627 million euros (£533.3m; $664.6m), up by more than 100 million euros on the previous year.

Bayern's pre-tax profits also increased by around 30 percent, from 23.8 million euros in 2014-15 to 33 million euros.

"Our entrepreneurial objective is the maximisation of sporting success alongside financial prudence," said the club's deputy chairman Jan-Christian Dreesen.

"Our increasing financial power will be used primarily to make the regular investments required in our first-team squad in order to ensure we remain competitive among the elite teams in Europe."

While spending on players and staff rose by 33 million euros, the increase in revenue is largely down to income from sponsorship and marketing growing from 113.9 million euros in 2014-15 to 169.8 million euros.

Income from television rights marketing was 83.4 million euros, "a relatively low figure in international terms", as the club said, but up from 58.3 million.

The figures underline Bayern's dominance of the German game, in which they have won the last four Bundesliga titles and also won the German Cup last season.

Their biggest rivals at home are Borussia Dortmund, whose own revenue was 376 million euros. 

Bayern's own figures are short of those announced by Spanish champions Barcelona, who announced revenue of 679 million euros for the last financial year. However, they are just ahead of the 620 million-euro revenue announced by Real Madrid.

Source: AFP