The former player of the Real Madrid and German internationally Christoph Metzelder will be tried in April Düsseldorf by distributing images of a pedophile, the court announced on Monday.
Metzelder, who denies the facts, will face trial from April 29, the court added in a statement.
The 40-year-old former defender of the German national team is accused of sending 29 pedophile and pornographic images to an acquaintance via WhatsApp. You will also be assessed for possession of these types of photos.
The court did not issue an arrest warrant for the former football player, who was trained as a coach at the German Football Association (DFB), when it opened the investigation, in September 2019.
The newspaper statue He then claimed it was the ex-player’s girlfriend, with whom he had been in a relationship for a year, who sued him after receiving at least 15 pedophile images.
The public television network ARD, with whom the player had recently become a commentator, immediately decided to “suspend his collaboration” during the investigation.
Second world champion in 2002, Christoph Metzelder he was an international center-back 47 times between 2001 and 2008.
After shining in the Borussia Dortmund (2000-2007), signed for it Real Madrid (2007-2010) and returned to Germany to play in the Schalke, which he retired in 2013.
Later he managed an advertising agency and his own foundation, “Fondation Christoph Metzelder”, to support projects for children and young people. He also trained the team Under 19 from TuS Haltern