Germany 2006 World Cup Bid: Franz Beckenbauer And Six Others Under Investigation

 

Franz Beckenbauer is one of six men to be investigated by FIFA's ethics committee over the Germany 2006 World Cup bidding process. The 70years old, a World Cup-winning captain and manager with West Germany, led his nation's campaign to host the tournament and was forced to reject allegations last year that a slush fund was set up to buy the votes.

Beckenbauer was also investigated as part of FIFA's probe into alleged corruption and was sanctioned by FIFA earlier this year for failing to cooperate with their investigation into the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cup bids.

Also under investigation is Wolfgang Niersbach (former president of the German FA, vice-president of the 2006 World Cup organising committee and current FIFA and UEFA executive committee member), Helmut Sandrock (former German FA secretary general and tournament director), Theo Zwanziger (former German FA president, organising committee vice-president and former FIFA and UEFA executive committee member) Horst R. Schmidt (former German FA secretary general and organising committee vice-president) and Stefan Hans (former German FA chief financial officer and organising committee chief financial officer)

A statement released on Tuesday read “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 World Cup host selection and the associated funding. This could constitute a breach of articles 13 (General rules of conduct), 15 (Loyalty), 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperating and reporting), 19 (Conflicts of interest), 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) and 21 (Bribery and corruption) of the FIFA Code of Ethics. In the cases of Mr Niersbach and Mr Sandrock, the investigatory chamber will investigate a possible failure to report a breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics, which could constitute a breach of article 13, 15, 18 and 19”

FIFA's ethics committee also confirmed Dr Cornel Borbely, chairman of the investigatory chamber, will lead the probe.