Fifa Opens Bribery Probe into Germany 2006 World Cup

As part of the ongoing campaign to rid football administration of corruption, the Fifa Ethics committee has opened an investigation into Germany’s successful 2006 World Cup bid.

The recently emboldened Ethics Committee of world football’s governing body is looking into the activities of six officials involved in the bid, including Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer (Der Kaiser).

Also under investigation are Former German FA (DFB) presidents Wolfgang Niersbach and Theo Zwanziger, former chief financial officer Stefan Hans, and former secretary generals Helmut Sandrock and Horst R Schmidt.

“In the cases of Mr Beckenbauer, Dr Zwanziger, Mr Schmidt and Mr Hans, the investigatory chamber will investigate possible undue payments and contracts to gain an advantage in the 2006 FIFA World Cup host selection and the associated funding,” a committee statement read.

Der kaiser last October denied allegations regarding a payment of 6.7million euros to FIFA in 2005 that was supposedly a ‘slush fund’ used to secure the 2006 World Cup, claiming “a mistake” had been made but that “no votes were bought”.

The DFB consequently hired international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to investigate the matter, but their report said: “We cannot prove that votes were bought, but we cannot rule this out either.”

Fifa, under new president Gianni Infantino, is undergoing massive reforms to repair its battered image from the days of former president Sepp Blatter.

Credit: Mirror