Former player of real Madrid and German international Christoph Metzelder will be tried in April in Düsseldorf by disseminating images of a pedophile, the court announced on Monday.
Metzelder, who denies the facts, will be tried on April 29, the court added in a statement.
The former defender of the German national team, aged 40, is accused of sending 29 pedophile and pornographic images to an acquaintance on WhatsApp. You will also be tried for possession of these types of photos.
The court did not issue an arrest warrant for the former footballer, who was being trained as a coach at German Football Federation (DFB), when it opened the investigation in September 2019.
newspaper picture He then claimed that the former player’s girlfriend, with whom he had been in a relationship for a year, was the one who denounced him after receiving at least fifteen images of a pedophile nature.
Public television network burn, with whom the player had recently become a commentator, immediately decided to “suspend his cooperation” during the investigation.
World runner-up in 2002, Christoph Metzelder he was international 47 times between 2001 and 2008, as a central defender.
After it shone in Borussia Dortmund (2000-2007), signed for real Madrid (2007-2010) and returned to Germany to play in Schalke, in which he retired in 2013.
He later ran an advertising agency and his own foundation, the Fondation Christoph Metzelder, to support projects for children and young people. He also coached the team Sub-19 of TuS Haltern.