Franz Beckenbauer has been accused of misleading the public by the president of the German Football Association (DFB) over a payment he received from a sponsor of the 2006 World Cup. Beckenbauer claimed to be working on a voluntary basis in his role as leader of the World Cup organising committee, but it has been revealed that he received a payment of €5.5million from a deal between the DFB and betting company Oddset.
DFB president Reinhard Grindel condemned the committee's lack of transparency, saying: "It was known that Franz Beckenbauer had been active in advertising for Oddset during the 2006 World Cup. It was not known to us that he received the noteworthy sum of €5.5million out of the organising committee pot. With this background, one can certainly not claim that his activities within the organising committee were on a volunteer basis."
"For me this frustrating issue is more proof the organising committee of the World Cup wanted to block out things, that there was no transparency there and that the public was partly misled. I condemn that."
Beckenbauer, 71, is one of four men facing criminal proceedings from the Attorney General of Switzerland in relation to Germany's successful 2006 World Cup bid, but Lotto Bavaria said that all payments in relation to its sponsorship deal would have gone through the DFB.
"As a result there was no fee agreement or fee payment. The contractual partner of Mr Beckenbauer was the DFB," said a statement from Lotto Bavaria. The lottery administration signed a contract [with the DFB] in August 2004 as a national backer for the 2006 World Cup. Mr Beckenbauer received the advertising fee from the DFB."
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