BERLIN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Investigation is going on for former German national player Christoph Metzelder on suspicion of the distribution of child pornography, the public prosecutor's office in Hamburg announced on Wednesday.
The defendant, a member of the 2002 World Cup's runners-up, was accused of having sent pictures with child pornographic content to a recipient in Hamburg via the Whats App communication platform, the German newspaper Bild first reported.
And two search warrants of the Hamburg district court in Duesseldorf, where the defendant lives, had already been executed on Tuesday.
Germany's public broadcaster ARD had already suspended Metzelder, ARD sports coordinator Axel Balkausky told newspaper Bild. "We are putting the cooperation on hold until the allegations are cleared up."
During the searches, data storage media were seized as evidence which would now be evaluated.
He also won the German national title with Borussia Dortmund and the Spanish league title with real Madrid.
