Heinz Weifenbachsuccessful real estate promoter and president of the Hockey Ice Club ECD Iserlohnleft his city of North-Westphaly Rhine At the end of November 1987. His destiny was set in the north of Africato be exact, in Libyasince I had an interview with Muammar al-Gaddafi. To talk about business and a curious sponsorship. TO Weifenbach He did not care that he was a dictator accused by the international community of having promoted several attacks in Europe. One specifically in your own Germany.
Club delicate situation
In 1981, Weifenbach bought the ECD Iserlohn. The team was modest and had debts that reached several million Marcos. Those who knew him always remind him of a cigar, with his village mustache, an entrepreneur with thrust, relentless and creative, a man with a way of baroque living in abundance, as well as with some somewhat particular methods. The delusions of greatness of Weifenbach They went to bring some of the best ice hockey players to Iserlohn with the consequent high chips that should pay them. He signed to Finland Martti Jarkko Already the star of the NHLthe Czech Jaroslav Pouzar. In the light of their debts that accumulated with an amount of 2,965,493 euros, the tax department declared Iserlohn insolvent. In autumn of 1987, Heinz Weifenbach I was desperate. He found in Hans Meyerthe mayor of the nearby city of Hemer known for their business with countries in the east of Europa and with Chinacontact with the Libyan leader.
Heinz Weifenbach and Gaddafi understood each other right
State terrorism
Among the terrorist attacks in which Gaddafi He was accused of being involved are the massacre of the Olympic Games of Munich In 1972, the bomb in the Berlin La Belle disco in 1986, the demolition of flight 103 of Pan AM in 1988 and Flight 772 of Uta in 1989. He embodied his political ideas in the 'Green Book' as a compendium of joining socialism, Islam and Arab nationalism. And that will be the sponsorship that will carry the Iserlohn.
Weifenbach was photographed in the club's offices with the safe open without apparently anything inside
World impact
Weifenbach It reaches Trípoli With a swarm of journalists eager to capture the moment and GaddafiUfano, welcomes our character in a Beduina store. The meeting is a success and Heinz returns to Germany With sponsorship under the arm.
As a gunpowder, the agreement reached by the Iserlohn with the Libyan dictator opens the news several days of December 1987. Two North American television networks arrive at the German population and the New York Times Send correspondents to cover the reactions. Some of very virulent such as the national coach Xavier Uninstall that snapped at the media: “Sport should not support criminal elements and terrorism.”
Bruce Hardy looked only during a game the 'Green Book' of Gaddafi
The short life of sponsorship
The only game that the 'Green Book' was on the shirts was the one who played against him SB Rosenheim On December 4, 1987. It was reported that the club entered an amount close to 796,812 euros although it was never clear if they reached the clubs of the club. With that amount could cover your tax problems temporarily. Iserlohn He won the match. To some extent, all that uproar seemed good to Weifenbach since he believed that he was giving visibility to his club to reach other sponsorships.
The former player Robert Simon's shirt is one of the few that are preserved with the advertising of the 'Green Book'
Pressures
The next match that had to play the ECD Iserlohn It was in Frankfurt. When the team's bus arrived at the pavilion, the players realized that the manifestations of repulsa were directed to the club but who suffered them were them. In the locker room, the players told him Weifenbach that had serious doubts about the use of the logo of 'Green Book'. The leader clearly exposed the situation. If they did not sponsor the happy book there would be no money to pay the salaries and the club got into total bankruptcy with the withdrawal of the competition team and the cancellation of the season. The players voted and the majority preferred to terminate their career in the club to have to be the daily objective of insults and target of extra -sports comments.
As the president predicted, during the 1987-88 season, the ECD Iserlohn It declared bankruptcy.
Heinz Weifenbach He managed to dodge German tax officials enough to resurface as president of ECD Sauerland (he Iserlohn renamed) winning a title in 1989. The dream of the championship of Weifenbach Finally, he came true but resigned two years later, acted by debts and the lack of the momentum that had led him to look for sponsorships of any kind. In 1993 he began to serve a prison sentence for tax evasion. He died at the beginning of 2015 with the conviction his best to save the club. Even if he was contacting the world number 1 enemy.
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