German football great Franz Beckenbauer and the country’s former football federation boss Wolfgang Niersbach have both denied wrongdoing over payments made in connection with the 2006 World Cup.
Niersbach denied he had ordered the disappearance of a file at the German federation. “As far as the World Cup is concerned I have an absolutely clear conscience,” he told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
FIFA’s ethics committee is examining a law firm’s report into investigations of payments made by German officials in connection with the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
On Friday, lawyers from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said there was no evidence Germany had tried to buy votes for the 2006 World Cup, but said it could not be ruled out.
The firm’s investigation focused on a number of payments, including 6.7 million euros (7.3 million dollars) from German tournament organisers to FIFA and transactions involving an account held by Beckenbauer and his late manager Robert Schwan.
Beckenbauer, who was president of Germany’s World Cup organizing committee, said he had understood the money, a total of 10 million Swiss francs, to be a pre-payment to FIFA to secure a grant of 250 million Swiss francs for the World Cup.
He said he arranged it in a personal meeting with then FIFA president Joseph Blatter after the DFB had made no progress on the matter with football’s governing body.
He added that all the transactions were handled by his then manager Schwan. “Robert did everything for me, from changing the light bulb to important contracts,” Beckenbauer said.
On another document promising “various services” to disgraced former FIFA executive Jack Warner, signed by Beckenbauer four days before the World Cup vote in 2000, Beckenbauer said it was designed “to pacify Jack Warner”.
“Jack Warner was then one of the most powerful men in FIFA. Even Sepp Blatter was dependent on him,” Beckenbauer said. “We didn’t want to have him as an opponent before the World Cup vote in July 2000 with the danger that he could take votes away from us in the executive committee.”
However Beckenbauer said his signature on the contract was “not important” because it needed the DFB’s approval, which never happened.
Beckenbauer, 70, who won the World Cup as both player and coach, said he would not let the affair ruin his reputation, while the 2006 World Cup remained a huge success. “In retrospect I perhaps made mistakes. One is always wiser after the event. But the World Cup was not bought,” he said.
Niersbach, who remains on the executive committees of FIFA and European body UEFA despite stepping down as DFB president, said he was not behind the disappearance at the DFB of a file marked “FIFA 2000” mentioned in the investigation by Freshfields.
The Freshfields report said there was no proof Niersbach knew of the World Cup payment affair before summer 2015. However, he did not inform the DFB board of it until the news magazine Der Spiegel broke the story in October.
Niersbach told Welt am Sonntag he had tried to seek clarity in the affair. “Looking back, I have to say that I should have informed the board earlier. I regret that,” he said.