A German court has sentenced Uli Hoeness, president of European football champions Bayern Munich, to three years and six months in jail for tax evasion, according to BBC News.

He admitted defrauding German tax authorities of millions of euros.

The former World Cup-winning Germany striker, 62, had kept the funds in a secret Swiss bank account.

His lawyer had argued he should escape punishment because he gave himself up. But judges ruled his confession fell short of full disclosure.

The court in the southern city of Munich found Hoeness guilty of "seven serious counts of tax evasion".

The defense and prosecution now have a week to appeal the sentence. Prosecutors had called for a term of five years and six months.

He was initially charged with evading 3.5mln euros ($4.9mln) in taxes but he then admitted to dodging another 15m euros. It finally emerged in court that he owed a total of 27.2m euros.

Hoeness, who helped Germany win the 1972 European Championship and then the World Cup two years later, came clean about his secret bank account last year, filing an amended tax return in the hope of an amnesty in return for paying the tax he owed.

But prosecutors said he did so because investigators were already pursuing his case.

The case has been described as one of the most spectacular of the year by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Despite the tax evasion scandal, Hoeness remains a very popular figure at the club he helped build up.

He offered his resignation at last year's annual meeting but was backed by the supporters and the club's board.