BECKENBAUER QUESTIONED, DENIES CORRUPTION CHARGES
German football legend Franz Beckenbaueris been questioned by prosecutors over his involvement in the corruption cases of the 2006 World Cup.
Four members of the organizing committee are being investigated over suspected corruption, specifically, money laundering, misappropriation, criminal mismanagement and fraud.
The legend confirmed that he was under investigation but declined to share details out of respect for the prosecutors.
“Today I was interviewed as part of a long scheduled hearing by the Swiss federal prosecutor. I answered his questions,” the 71-year old ex-German skipper revealed.
The Swiss attorney general’s office confirmed that the legend was “co-operative” in the investigation. The investigations into the four accused began in 2015. The three others aside Beckenbauer are German Football Association (DFB) former presidents Wolfgang Niersbach and Theo Zwanziger and former secretary of the association Horst Rudolf Schmidt.
German news sorces Der Spiegel did a report in 2015 that claimed that the Germans used a secret slush fund to get FIFA votes ahead of the bidding event for the World Cup. The reports went viral, and tax authorities raided the DFB headquarters.
The fund was allegedly traced to late Robert Louis-Dreyfus – the head of popular sportswear firm Adidas. Beckenbauer was the head of the committee that secured the rights. He has denied deliberate wrongdoing whilst handling the case even though he said he could have made errors during the biding process. There are allegations that he was the ones who asked Louis-Dreyfus to get the slush fund available.
If found guilty, it would further tarnish the image of the former coach of Marseille and Bayern Munich.