Ms. Nana, a language officer at the T.P. & Associates law firm, disclosed the case of Miss Deng, who was tricked into buying a fake Hermes crocodile leather bag from a seller in Ratchaprasong on January 10, 2024, at the T.P. & Associates law firm on Rama IX Road.
BANGKOK – It’s difficult to find a government agency responsible for protecting the rights of tourists, a Chinese visitor said after being tricked into buying a fake Hermes crocodile leather bag from a seller in Ratchaprasong, Bangkok.
Miss Deng, a 27-year-old Chinese national who is the wife of a Chinese businessman living in Singapore, together with a lawyer of the T.P. & Associates law firm, complained to the media on January 10 that she was tricked into buying a fake Hermes crocodile leather bag from a seller in Ratchaprasong who posted the bag on Instagram.
Miss Deng saw the bag in the seller’s Instagram story. She contacted the seller directly and arranged to buy the bag on October 1, 2023 for 1.4 million baht at a second-hand store in a well-known shopping mall in Ratchaprasong.
One day later, she sent the bag to the Catch Fake Brandname (TCF), a Thai luxury goods institute, for authentication. It informed her that the bag was fake. Miss Deng then contacted the seller to return the bag. However, the seller refused on the grounds that the bag had disappeared and lost its value.
The Catch Fake Institute (TCF) informed the Chinese visitor that the bag was fake.
Miss Deng then instructed a representative of the law firm to lodge a complaint at the Lumpini Police Station on October 6, 2023, before she returned to Singapore with her husband. She then authorized the representative to lodge another complaint with the Lumpini Police Station on November 1, 2023.
The representative of the law firm then went to the store with the police to discuss the return of the bag. The store offered to return the bag for 980,000 baht, deducting 420,000 baht for depreciation. The Chinese woman and the store could not come to an agreement, so she filed a complaint in the media to draw attention to the seller’s behavior.
Miss Deng said through Miss Nana, an interpreter, that she had been living in Thailand for some time but still had difficulty finding a government agency responsible for protecting the rights of tourists. She asked how tourists who are only in Thailand for a short time can get justice if they are cheated by a store selling counterfeit goods.
“I would like to ask the country’s leaders to help in this matter,” Miss Deng said. “I am worried that tourists who have experienced the same thing as me might be afraid to come to Thailand to travel and shop.”
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — It was a day like any other at the TC Television studio in Guayaquil, Ecuador, with its mid-afternoon newscast underway, when the masked gunmen burst in unleashing at least 15 minutes of threats and fear – all broadcast live
First a man with a pistol appeared in the middle of the public TV station’s live transmission followed by a second man with a shotgun, then a third and more. With the show’s “After the News” title behind them, station employees were brought onto the set and ordered to lie down. Screams could be heard followed by the sounds of gunshots.
“We are on air, so you know that you cannot play with the mafia,” one of the assailants is heard saying.
Masked gunmen could be seen aiming guns at news staff. Someone said: “Don’t shoot!” After about 15 minutes the transmission was cut.
The unprecedented assault on a TV station in Ecuador came hours after a series of other attacks and police officer abductions. It also followed the apparent escapes from prison of two of the leaders of Ecuador’s most powerful gangs.
No one was killed in Tuesday’s attack and authorities say the 13 gunmen were arrested and will be charged with terrorism. President Daniel Noboa, who came into power in November with a promise to bring peace to the South American country, issued a decree saying the violence-plagued country had entered an “internal armed conflict,” in what some analysts see as a watershed moment for Ecuador.
Staff members sit on a street after they were evacuated from the TC television channel station after a group of armed men broke onto their set during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)
Late Tuesday, Noboa met with his security Cabinet and afterwards the head of the Armed Forces Joint Command said the attacks were the gangs’ reactions to the government moves against them.
“They have unleashed a wave of violence to frighten the population,” Adm. Jaime Vela told journalists, describing the attacks as “unprecedented” in Ecuador’s history.
The South American country had been rocked by attacks since Monday night, but the assault on a live newscast was seen as it happened in thousands of homes across the country.
“This is a turning point,” said Will Freeman, a political analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, adding that while gangs in Ecuador have previously assassinated a presidential candidate and set off car bombs in front of government buildings, Tuesday’s events marked a new peak in violence.
Soldiers patrol outside the government palace during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
“Depending on how the government responds it will set the precedent for these kinds of incidents to continue, or it will use this as a catalyst and make some very necessary structural reforms so that the state can start to win its war against crime,” Freeman said.
Alina Manrique, the head of news for TC Television, was ordered to get on the floor.
“They aimed the gun at my head,” she told The Associated Press. “I thought about my entire life, about my two children.”
Manrique said some of the assailants ran from the studio and tried to hide when they realized they were surrounded by police.
“I am still in shock,” she said. “Everything has collapsed … All I know is that its time to leave this country and go very far away.”
Police officers entered the TV station and subdued the assailants, who can face up to 13 years in prison it they are convicted of terrorism.
Police evacuate staff from the TC public television station after a group of armed men broke onto their set during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)
On Monday, a day after a notorious gang leader’s apparent escape from prison, President Noboa had declared a national state of emergency, a measure that lets authorities suspend people’s rights and mobilize the military in places like prisons.
On Tuesday, shortly after the gunmen stormed the TV station, Noboa issued another decree designating 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorizing Ecuador’s military to “neutralize” them within the bounds of international humanitarian law.
The government has said at least 30 attacks have taken place since authorities announced that Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito,” was discovered missing from his cell in a low security prison Sunday. He was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility that day.
Ecuadorean officials on Tuesday announced that another gang leader, Fabricio Colón Pico of the Los Lobos group, had escaped from a prison in the town of Riobamba. Colón Pico was captured on Friday as part of a kidnapping investigation and has also been accused of trying to murder one of the nation’s lead prosecutors.
Other attacks have included an explosion near the house of the president of the National Justice Court and the Monday night kidnappings of four police officers. Police said one officer was abducted in the capital, Quito, and three in Quevedo city.
Police evacuate staff from the TC television channel station after a group of armed men broke onto their set during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)
Los Choneros is one of the Ecuadorian gangs that authorities consider responsible for a spike in violence, much of tied to drug trafficking, that reached a new level last year with the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The gang has links with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, according to authorities.
The whereabouts of Macías are unknown. Prosecutors opened an investigation and charged two guards in connection with his alleged escape, but neither the police, the corrections system, nor the federal government confirmed whether the prisoner fled the facility or might be hiding in it.
In February 2013, he escaped from a maximum security facility but was recaptured weeks later.
Macías, who was convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organized crime, was serving a 36-year sentence in La Regional prison in the port of Guayaquil.
Located on South America’s Pacific coast between Peru and Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has become a key transit point for the drug in recent years. Much of the violence suffered by the country comes as drug gangs fight each other and the government for control of ports and smuggling routes.
Los Choneros and other similar groups linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels are fighting over trafficking routes and control of territory, including from within detention facilities, where more than 450 inmates have died since 2021, according to authorities.
PHUKET – The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has been monitoring and tracking the Omura’s whales, or dwarf fin whales, that have reached the Andaman coast since January 1, 2024. There was a viral post on social media stating that there could be an albino Omura’s whale among the whales.
As of January 9, the white whale had not been found, although at least four Omura’s whales had been discovered.
Dr. Kongkiat Kittivattanawong, a specialist in resource and environmental research in marine and coastal ecosystems, led a team of researchers from the Marine and Coastal Resources Research Center in the field from the Upper and Lower Andaman Sea to investigate and collect data on Omura’s whales (Balaenoptera omurai).
The survey was conducted using three methods: 1. Boat-based survey using distance transects sampling, using the Marine and Coast Guard Boat 805 and speedboats to cover the area from lower Phang Nga Bay to the upper part of Koh Racha Yai over an area of 200 square kilometers.
2. Drone survey in the south of Koh Maiton in a radius of 8 kilometers. 3. Follow-up and reconnaissance for sightings by the tourism sector and fishing boats. In addition, information on safety measures for white Omura’s whales was disseminated.
Phinsak Suraswadi, Director-General of the DMCR, summarized the results of the operation, saying that Omura’s whales were found 3 times. The first Omura whale was found by a team of officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) on the west coast of Koh Phi Phi at around 12:00 p.m. on January 8. It was seen surfacing three times and then moving quickly with the current.
The second was found by a team of DMCR officers on the east coast of Koh Maiton. It was a 9-meter-long Omura’s whale. The officers tracked it for 30 minutes over a distance of 3.5 kilometers. The whale was breathing 6 times in 5 minutes and had a healthy body condition. Its swimming and feeding behavior was normal.
A Group of 4 Omura’s whales were found for the third time behind Koh Hay. They were swimming and feeding both close to and far from the boat. The officers collected water samples to study using eDNA techniques and Photo ID data to identify and compare individuals and summarize the population.
Although there were no violations of marine and coastal resources along the survey route, officials asked tour boats and fishing boats in the area to use more caution when operating their boats to avoid harming the whales.
The presence of whales reflects the richness of the marine ecosystem. Omura’s whales are listed as a protected species under the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act. They are mainly found in the Pacific Ocean. In Thailand, Omura’s whales have been spotted along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand as well as the Andaman coast.
Officials also urged anyone who sees whales, including rare marine animals, or has information about the marine and coastal situation to contact the Forest Protection and Marine Rescue Hotline at 1362.
The girl eventually woke up and was able to communicate.
UDON THANI – A 4-year-old girl narrowly escaped death after her mother tried to kill herself and her daughter by setting smoke in their home in Na Yard sub-district, Udon Thani province, Thailand on Tuesday.
The girl was taken to hospital with her mother on January 9, 2024. The police found a charcoal stove in the bedroom, which had just been lit, near the end of the bed. Next to it, they found a notebook with a four-page suicide note written by the girl’s 38-year-old mother. The note mentioned the mother’s debt problems, which she believed had been caused by a scam. She apologized her husband, her family and to her creditors.
“I would not dare let my children live without a mother. I did not want my children to be a burden to anyone,” the mother of two stated.
A notebook with a four-page suicide note written by the girl’s 38-year-old mother.
The police believe that the mother changed her mind when she saw her daughter struggling and falling unconscious from the smoke. She picked up the child and rushed to give her first aid. Neighbors and relatives who heard the commotion rushed to help and the girl eventually woke up and was able to communicate. The mother hugged and comforted her daughter and said, “I will grill fish for you.” This scene touched the hearts of the neighbors and relatives.
Her mother-in-law, who is 70 years old and lives next door to her house, said that she heard people shouting and went to see what was going on. She saw her daughter-in-law trying to revive her granddaughter. Soon after, the granddaughter opened her eyes and woke up.
The child’s grandmother is frightened as she nearly lost her granddaughter.
The mother-in-law said she had never seen her son and daughter-in-law fighting before. She was shocked that her daughter-in-law would think of doing such a thing, but she was grateful that she had changed her mind and saved her granddaughter. She said that she would be more vigilant in the future to prevent something like this from happening again.
Later, the girl’s father, a 41-year-old man, came home and read the suicide note. He began to cry. Then he went inside to prepare to go to the hospital to see his daughter and his wife.
Pol. Sen. Sgt. Maj. Suksan Sidawat, crime prevention officer at Udon Thani City Police Station, said he hopes this case will serve as an example that every family has problems, but they need to talk to each other, understand each other and support each other. If they do this, everything will be fine.
The police found a charcoal stove in the bedroom, which had just been lit, near the end of the bed.
In Thailand, there have been several similar cases in recent years in which parents or both parents have killed themselves due to debt problems, resulting in the death of their children. For example, in December 2023, a papaya salad vendor in Lamphun province killed himself, his wife and daughter by burning charcoal in a closed space after being harassed by a loan shark.
In another case, in August 2023, a father in Samut Prakan province killed his wife and child with a knife after struggling with debt because he had guaranteed a loan for his wife, who had then been defrauded by online criminals.
PHUKET – Police officers from Patong Police Station in Phuket Province investigated a 16-second video clip of a foreign tourist peeing in public while riding on the back of a tuk tuk (auto rickshaw) that was distributed on social media. It was discovered that the incident in the video happened two months ago.
Mr. Prathan Boonthiam, the driver of the tuk tuk seen in the video clip, was invited to the Patong Police Station. He said that the incident occurred about two months ago. That day, he met the tourist at the end of Soi Bangla and took him to a hotel.
The tuk tuk driver said that the incident involving a foreigner peeing in the back of the car occurred about two months ago.
Along the way, he noticed in the rearview mirror that this tourist was standing and urinating at the back of the car. So he drove to Patong Police Station to report the incident, but the tourist got out of the car, disappeared, and was never seen again.
The police suggested to the tuk tuk driver that if another occurrence like this occurred, he should immediately warn tourists or notify the authorities.
According to Thai law, urinating in public places is punished by a fine of up to 2,000 baht. Pouring urine from a building or vehicle into a public space carries a fine of no more than 10,000 baht.
Animal rights activists attend a protest rally supporting the government-led dog meat banning bill at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s parliament on Tuesday passed a landmark ban on production and sales of dog meat, as public calls for a prohibition have grown sharply over concerns about animal rights and the country’s international image.
Some angry dog farmers said they plan to challenge the bill’s constitutionality and hold protest rallies, a sign of continued heated debate over the ban.
The bill would make slaughtering, breeding and sales of dog meat for human consumption illegal from 2027 and punishable by 2-3 years in prison. It doesn’t provide any penalties for eating dog meat.
Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea. Recent surveys show more than half of South Koreans want dog meat banned and a majority no longer eat it. But one in every three South Koreans still opposes a ban even though they don’t consume it.
The National Assembly passed the bill by a 208-0 vote. It will become law after being endorsed by the Cabinet Council and signed by President Yoon Suk Yeol, considered formalities since his government supports the ban.
“This law is aimed at contributing to realizing the values of animal rights, which pursue respect for life and a harmonious co-existence between humans and animals,” the legislation says.
Animal rights activists attend a protest rally supporting the government-led dog meat banning bill at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The bill offers assistance to dog farmers and others in the industry in shutting down their businesses and shifting to alternatives. Details are to be worked out among government officials, farmers, experts and animal rights activists.
Humane Society International called the legislation’s passage “history in the making.”
“I never thought I would see in my lifetime a ban on the cruel dog meat industry in South Korea, but this historic win for animals is testament to the passion and determination of our animal protection movement,” said JungAh Chae, executive director of HSI’s Korea office.
Farmers were extremely upset by the bill’s passage.
“This is a clear case of state violence as they are infringing on our freedom to choose our occupation. We can’t just sit by idly,” said Son Won Hak, a farmer and former leader of a farmers’ association.
Animal rights activists attend a protest rally supporting the government-led dog meat banning bill at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Son said dog farmers will file a petition with the Constitutional Court of Korea and hold demonstrations. He said farmers will meet on Wednesday to discuss other steps.
There is no reliable official data on the exact size of South Korea’s dog meat industry. Activists and farmers say hundreds of thousands of dogs are slaughtered for meat each year.
The anti-dog meat campaign received a huge boost from the country’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee, who has repeatedly expressed her support for a prohibition. She has become the subject of withering criticism and crude insults during demonstrations by farmers.
The legislation doesn’t clearly specify how dog farmers and others in the industry will be supported after the ban, which will likely result in continued animosities, observers say.
“Dogs are different from cows, chickens and pigs,” said Kim Myung-ae, a 58-year-old Seoul resident. “Why would you still eat dogs when they are now seen more as family-like pets than food?”
Another Seoul resident, Jeong Yoon Hee, disagreed, saying whether to eat dog meat is a matter of a personal choice and dietary culture. “Dogs are dogs, not humans,” he said.
The suspect used a bus with a Lao registration plate to transport the the bulbuls to avoid inspection by the Thai police.
BANGKOK – The Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division police officers collaborated with the Department of National Parks’ Hawks Operations Team to raid and arrest three suspects, as well as seize evidence: 21 bulbuls, one pickup truck, and one bus with a Lao licence plate parked inside the tour parking lot on Soi Ramintra, Chorakae Bua Subdistrict, Lat Phrao District, Bangkok on January 9, 2024.
Previously, officials had received intelligence that a gang of foreigners were smuggling wild animals hidden in various products aboard an international bus that had been turned to transfer goods to neighbouring nations.
As a result, they deployed forces to the area until they discovered that products would be unloaded in a tour parking lot in the Ramindra area, so they sent forces to monitor.
The police officers discovered 21 bulbuls, which are protected wild animals, hiding in cardboard boxes.
Officers subsequently spotted the three suspects assisting with the transfer of items from a pickup truck to a bus. So they walked in to investigate and discovered 21 bulbuls, which are protected wild animals, hiding in cardboard boxes.
In addition, exotic species such as 929 turtles, 4 chameleons, and 6 snakes were discovered stowed in concealed compartments during the vehicle inspection. So they seized all of them for inspection and detained three suspects for questioning.
The police officers seized 21 bulbuls, which are protected wild animals, as evidence.
Initially, all three suspects—Mr. Nguyen Din Dai, 38; Mr. Nguyen Tien Thanh, 39; and Mr. Nguyen Duy Quy, 40—confirmed that they had been recruited for 4,200 baht to transport the bulbuls to a bordering nation. They will receive their salary once the product has been delivered. They had changed the vehicles to avoid police suspicion.
They were charged with “conspiring to possess protected wild animals without permission” before being detained with the confiscated items. Investigators from Division 1 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division will continue to work on the investigation.
Police officers conduct a search operation in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)
KANAZAWA – The death toll from the powerful New Year’s Day earthquake that struck Ishikawa Prefecture and surrounding areas in central Japan has topped 200, the prefectural government said Tuesday.
Local police commenced a large-scale search operation Tuesday with around 100 personnel working at a gutted market in Wajima, where a major blaze broke out following the magnitude-7.6 quake.
More than 28,000 people were continuing to shelter in evacuation centers in Ishikawa Prefecture, with around a dozen reportedly infected with the coronavirus at three locations in the town of Shika and at least 3,300 people, mainly in Wajima and the adjacent city of Suzu, cut off due to severed roads.
More than 80 schools, including in Wajima and Suzu, were unable to hold classes due to damaged facilities.
A stray cat, a mainstay of the famous Asaichi Dori shopping street in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, January 2024 after a powerful earthquake hit the area. (Yoshie Minamidani via AP)
At the Wajima market, around 200 buildings were destroyed in the fire that started on Jan. 1, according to the local municipal government and firefighters.
There were many wooden buildings in the over 1,000-year-old morning market that was popular with tourists.
Deaths from the quake, which registered a maximum 7 on the country’s seismic intensity scale, were concentrated in Wajima and Suzu, while the number of people unaccounted for has fluctuated due to conflicting information.
Burned-out vehicles and other debris are seen after a fire near the Asaichi-dori shopping street in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo on Jan. 5, 2024, following a deadly earthquake on New Year’s Day. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet approved the allocation of 4.74 billion yen ($33 million) from reserve funds in the fiscal 2023 budget to support the victims of the Noto Peninsula quake, including measures to help those affected to cope with the cold weather.
The government also plans to increase reserve funds earmarked in the draft budget for the fiscal year starting April from the current 500 billion yen, to fund disaster recovery efforts, according to Kishida.
Giant 3D animated cat campaign and new brand ambassador set to excite animal lovers
VetSynova Co Ltd, the leading producer of VFcore innovative pet products and the top seller of lickable pet supplements, aims to strengthen its market leadership in 2024 with a series of sales strategies including innovative products, an exciting campaign featuring a giant 3D animated cat movie shown in the Bangkok city center, and the introduction of Nonkul – Chanon Santinatornkul as the brand ambassador.
Market research conducted in veterinary clinics and pet shops across the country shows that ‘petriarchy” or pet parenting will be the 3rd highest ranking trend in 2024. Keys factors supporting this development are the increasing number of senior citizens, singles and couples raising pets as family members.
The pet product market in Thailand has expanded quickly, with the total market value rising to approximately 20 billion baht. The pet food segment accounts for 75-85%, or about 15 billion – 17 billion baht, and the trend looks set to continue.
Dr. Manaithorn Seriputra, Chairman and co-founder of VetSynova Co Ltd, said, “Over the past year, pet humanization or pet parenting has become clearer. Owners nowadays see pets as family members. They are ready in all aspects to have pets, are interested in innovations and look for the best for their pet’s health. VFcore pays high attention to this group, who make up our direct target customers. Therefore, we have created and provided innovations that meet their needs and help them strengthen the bonds between themselves and their pets. VFcore by VetSynova is the brand that helps maintain pet health and allows owners to have quality and close family bonding time with their pets. With our innovations that satisfy both pets and owners, our pet supplements have become the No. 1 in the market.”
Dr. Manaithorn added, “We have attended many international pet expos and veterinary conferences and are confident that VFcore is the first to introduce lickable pet supplements that are not in the form of a pill. It is the result of hard work and research carried out over a year by our team of experienced veterinarians who have worked closely with Thailand’s leading universities. Our products, therefore, are healthy, tasty and loved by both cats and dogs. Backed by this success, we will move on to develop even better pet lifestyle innovations to promote pet health and bonding between owners and pets.”
Apart from pet lifestyle innovations, VetSynova will also introduce two strategies in 2024 to strengthen its market leadership. One of the new strategies is to build a strong VFcore community through various activities, starting with the “#เพราะรักให้เลีย” campaign. VFcore has brought Thailand’s first 3D animated cat to the city center, where people passing through Parc Paragon and the Interchange Building at Asok intersection will be stunned by this giant 3D animated cat. This was coupled by a recent fan meet activity where over 60 owners and their beloved dogs and cats who are VFcore customers gathered and enjoyed a good time together at TRUE 5G PRO HUB, Siam Discovery.
VetSynova has also introduced Nonkul – Chanon Santinatornkul as the first VFcore brand ambassador to strengthen brand positioning and character. The company hopes that the appointment of the brand ambassador will attract new customers and grow the brand advocacy group.
The company is confident that its innovative products and killer marketing strategies and activities will not only maintain its market leadership in Thailand but also enable it to expand to foreign markets in the future.
VFcore currently offers 9 formulas of food supplements recommended by veterinarians. They are made from premium ingredients under the supervision of experienced veterinarians. The nine formulas are:
1.) Yellow LS (Lysine) for enhanced immunity, protecting cats from cat flu and reducing stress
2.) Red RB (Iron & Copper Multi-Vitamins) for blood production
3.) Green JC (Joint Care Complex)
4.) Orange KC (Kidney Care) for kidney health
5.) Gold Vitality with over 20 vitamins for health enhancement
6.) Emerald green BIO for diarrhea treatment and to enhance immunity
7.) Latte cream colored FIBER that reduces constipation and hairballs
And two new formulas:
8.) Pink SK (Skin), the latest formula for silky fur
9.)Blue UC for stress reduction and prevention of cystitis
FILE - West Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer holds up the World Cup trophy after his team defeated the Netherlands by 2-1, in the World Cup soccer final at Munich's Olympic stadium, in West Germany, on Jul. 7, 1974. German soccer great Franz Beckenbauer has died at 78, news agency dpa reports. (AP Photo, File)
MUNICH (AP) — Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup both as player and coach and became one of Germany’s most beloved personalities with his easygoing charm, has died. He was 78.
Beckenbauer’s death was first announced through a statement from his family to German news agency dpa and then confirmed by the German soccer federation.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family,” the family said in its statement. “We ask that we be allowed to grieve in peace and be spared any questions.”
The statement did not provide a cause of death. The former Bayern Munich great, who became affectionately known as the “Kaiser” — or “Emperor” — had struggled with health problems in recent years.
FILE – German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, head of Germany’s organising committee for the soccer World Cup, plays with the Golden Ball for the World Cup in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on April 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Jan Bauer, File)
Beckenbauer was one of German soccer’s central figures. As a player, he reimagined the defender’s role in soccer and captained West Germany to the World Cup title in 1974 after it had lost to England in the 1966 final. He was the coach when West Germany won the tournament again in 1990, a symbolic moment for a country in the midst of reunification, months after the Berlin Wall fell.
“The ‘Kaiser’ was one of the best players our sport has ever seen,” German soccer federation president Bernd Neuendorf said. “With his lightness, his elegance and his vision, he set standards on the field. … Franz Beckenbauer leaves a great legacy for the federation and soccer as a whole.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media that Beckenbauer “inspired generations of enthusiasm for German soccer. We will miss him.”
Beckenbauer’s death comes just two days after the announcement that Mario Zagallo, the Brazilian who became the first person to win the World Cup as a player and coach, had died at the age of 92. The only other person to achieve that feat is France’s Didier Deschamps.
Beckenbauer was also instrumental in bringing the highly successful 2006 World Cup to Germany, though his legacy was later tainted by charges that he only succeeded in winning the hosting rights with the help of bribery. He denied the allegations.
FILE – Former soccer stars Franz Beckenbauer, left, from Germany and Pele, right, from Brazil, present the World Cup trophy to photographers in Berlin Wednesday, March 12, 2003. (AP Photo/Roberto Pfeil, File)
“We did not want to bribe anyone and we didn’t bribe anyone,” Beckenbauer, who headed the World Cup organizing committee, wrote in his last column for daily tabloid Bild in 2016.
Beckenbauer and three other members of the committee were formally made criminal suspects that year by Swiss prosecutors who suspected fraud in the true purpose of multi-million euro (dollar) payments that connected the 2006 World Cup with FIFA. But he was eventually not indicted in 2019 for health reasons and the case ended without a judgment when the statute of limitations expired in 2020 amid delays to the court system caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Beckenbauer was in 2014 briefly suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee from all football-related activity for failing to cooperate with prosecutor Michael Garcia’s probe of alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes. The suspension was lifted during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when he agreed to cooperate.
The allegations damaged Beckenbauer’s standing in public perception for the first time. Until then, Beckenbauer had seemingly been unable to say or do anything wrong. Germans simply loved him.
“He did everything that a German is not supposed to do,” former Bayern Munich teammate Paul Breitner once said of the man popularly known as “Der Kaiser.”
“He got divorced, he left his children, took off with his girlfriend, got into trouble with tax collectors, left his girlfriend again.
“But he is forgiven for everything because he’s got a good heart, he’s a positive person and he’s always ready to help. He doesn’t conceal his weaknesses, doesn’t sweep his mistakes under the carpet,” Breitner said.
The son of a post official from the working-class Munich district of Giesing, Beckenbauer became one of the greatest players to grace the game in a career that also included stints in the United States with the New York Cosmos in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Born on Sept. 11, 1945, months after Germany’s surrender in World War II, Beckenbauer studied to become an insurance salesman but he signed his first professional contract with Bayern when he was 18.
“You are not born to become a world star in Giesing. Football for me was a deliverance. Looking back, I can say: Everything went according to how I’d imagined my life. I had a perfect life,” Beckenbauer told the Sueddeutsche newspaper magazine in 2010.
Beckenbauer personalized the position of “libero,” the free-roaming nominal defender who often moved forward to threaten the opponent’s goal, a role now virtually disappeared from modern football and rarely seen before his days.
An elegant, cool player with vision, Beckenbauer defined as captain the Bayern Munich side that won three successive European Cup titles from 1974 to 1976.
In his first World Cup as player in 1966, West Germany lost the final to host England as Beckenbauer chased Bobby Charlton around the field having been given the task of marking the England standout.
Four years later, with his arm strapped to his body because of a shoulder injury, Germany lost a memorable semifinal to Italy.
Finally, in 1974 at home, Beckenbauer captained West Germany to the title.
FILE – West German national soccer team captain Franz Beckenbauer, second from right, embraces his team mate, forward Juergen Grabowski while walking around the Olympic stadium, after West Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Football World Cup Final game at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany, on July 7, 1974. (AP Photo, File)
Beckenbauer left Bayern for New York in 1977 and later recalled fondly the time spent in the United States.
“From Munich-Giesing to New York City, that was a huge step,” Beckenbauer said.
Beckenbauer said the decisive step in luring him to the Cosmos was the helicopter ride the club officials gave him from the roof of the Pan Am Building across Manhattan to the Giants stadium in New Jersey.
“That was then the most modern stadium in the world, with VIP boxes. We didn’t have that in Europe. As we flew over the stadium, I told them, ‘Fine, stop it, I am coming.’”
In that 2010 interview, Beckenbauer also recalled visits to famed nightclub Studio 54 with fellow Cosmos stars Pele and Carlos Alberto.
Beckenbauer missed the 1978 World Cup because the Germans decided not to invite players playing abroad. He returned to Germany in 1980, spent two seasons with Hamburger SV — and won another Bundesliga championship, his fifth — before returning for a final season at the Cosmos.
Although he had never coached before, Beckenbauer was hired to revive West Germany in 1984 after a flop at the European Championship.
West Germany made it to the final of the 1986 World Cup, losing to Diego Maradona’s Argentina in Mexico City. Although West Germany failed to win the 1988 Euros title at home, it went to the final of the 1990 World Cup and defeated Argentina in the final in Rome, another highlight in the year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The penalty goal came from Andreas Brehme, a defender Beckenbauer had once told to “play the piano, play the flute but not football.”
Franz Beckenbauer won the World Cup again in 1990 as coach of Germany. (DFB photo)Franz Beckenbauer celebrates with Germany players after winning the FIFA World Cup in 1990. (DFB Photo)
While his team celebrated, Beckenbauer cut a lonely figure walking and reflecting at the Olympic Stadium.
Later, at the news conference, he said he was “sorry for the rest of the world” because a united Germany would be unbeatable for years to come. But Germany had to wait 24 years before winning another World Cup title.
Once he left for New York, Beckenbauer never had a home in Munich. He lived just across the border in the Austrian Alpine resort of Kitzbuehel, where taxes were lower.
Beckenbauer was a voracious traveler and personally visited all 31 countries who had qualified for the World Cup in Germany in 2006.
FILE – Franz Beckenbauer, then President of the German Organization Committee of the soccer World Cup briefs the media during a news conference at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, June 29, 2006. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Beckenbauer said he got the urge to travel as a child by collecting pictures for a sticker album. “There were photos from Africa, America. It got me interested … but I never thought I’d experience it personally.”
“There are many who travel but who see nothing because they are too busy. I was always curious.”
Beckenbauer retired from the West Germany job after coaching the team to the 1990 World Cup triumph. The Berlin Wall had fallen the year before and Germany was in the process of reunifying after the Cold War. The final was the last tournament game played by a West Germany-only team.
He didn’t have much success at coaching Marseille, but won the Bundesliga title with Bayern in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996, both after taking over as coach late in the season. He later became Bayern’s president, until leaving most functions when he turned 65 in 2010.
Beckenbauer’s legal issues around the 2006 World Cup continued into his retirement, but he remained a much-loved figure in German soccer and society.
