The Bundesliga scandal of 1965 grew out of the failure of the German Football Association (Deutsche Fußball-Bund, DFB) to fully embrace paid professionalism, an aversion rooted in the broader history of sport in the country.
The scandal came to light in February 1965, when the DFB's auditor found discrepancies in the accounts of the Hertha Berlin club that were quickly identified as illegal player payments.
Hertha's position in the economic rough and tumble of German football was weakened by the city of Berlin's dangerous political situation as an isolated enclave in the middle of the Soviet-occupied East Germany during the Cold War.
This prompted objections from Karlsruher SC and FC Schalke 04, who were relegated and argued that their performance warranted consideration for Hertha's vacated Bundesliga spot over Berlin-based Regionalliga sides.
In response to the economic issues, the DFB raised the limits on transfer fees and player salaries, though not to the level of other professional European leagues.