MUNICH: Uli Hoeness could be back at Bayern Munich in the spring, a year after receiving a three-and-a-half year jail term for tax evasion.

Hoeness, former World Cup-winning player and then Bayern president, suffered a sensational fall from grace after it emerged that he had not declared at least €40m in profits on stock exchange dealings and which had secreted in a Swiss bank.

Media reports in Germany suggest that he may be granted day-release from prison in the spring and could be permitted to take up an appointment in the Bayern youth section administration.

The club are planning to build a new youth academy not far from the Allianz Arena.

Freigang regulations would permit Hoeness, assuming he fulfils all the ‘proper behaviour’ conditions, to leave prison during daytime hours. He began his sentence at the Landsberg prison last June.

An eventual return for Hoeness to the club’s senior management is not ruled out though this could not be even considered for several years.

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