[5] In 1999, Born became chairman of the board of management of Werder Bremen,[6] where he was also head of finances and public relations, but did not draw a salary.
[7] He played a major role in putting the club on a sound financial footing and also making it successful on the field; he drew on his South American contacts to assist in recruiting players.
[1] In March 2009, Born was accused of accepting unauthorised payments in connection with the transfer of the Peruvian forward Roberto Silva to Werder Bremen in 2001.
[5][7][11] Accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers, engaged by Werder Bremen to investigate the allegations, exonerated Born in their report, released in August 2009.
[15] In the book and elsewhere, he accuses Willi Lemke, who succeeded him as chairman of the board at Werder Bremen, of presuming he was guilty of corruption.