Arrest ... Uli Hoeness is out on bail pending tax evasion investigation. Source: PETER KNEFFEL / News Limited
Embattled Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has admitted in an interview that he is going through "hell'' as the tax evasion scandal he has become caught up in shows no signs of abating.
In an exclusive interview with weekly newspaper Die Zeit, the 61-year-old said he has endured sleepless nights since being arrested at his home on Bavaria's fashionable Lake Tegernsee on March 20 before he was bailed for five million euros ($A6.3 million).
"That's when hell started for me,'' he said, while admitting he finds the situation "almost unbearable''.
Since the scandal broke, fuelling a national election-year debate about tax evasion, there have been calls for him to resign, and reports last Friday suggested Bayern's executive board are considering asking him to step down until the investigation is concluded.
Hoeness has said he feels he has been ostracised.
"That's a very big problem for me,'' he said.
"I feel like I have been catapulted to the other side of society and I no longer belong.
"Of course, I blame myself. I have got myself in a load of crap, but I am not a bad person.''
Hoeness has insisted there is no link between his Swiss bank account at the centre of the scandal and the accounts of Bayern Munich, who have been confirmed German champions this season.
In the interview, Hoeness, who won the 1974 World Cup with West Germany, also admitted having been a heavy gambler between 2002 and 2006.
"I gambled really heavily back then,'' he said before insisting he is cured of his former addiction.
"Day and night, involving sums which I find hard to understand now.
"The amounts were pretty extreme: it was a kick, an adrenaline rush.''
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