The German FA (DFB) confirmed reports that appeared in the daily "Süddeutsche Zeitung," as well as public broadcasters NDR and WDR on Friday, that it will launch proceedings against the 2006 World Cup Organizing Committee, which includes Franz Beckenbauer and former DFB presidents Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach, Horst R. Schmidt and Fedor Radmann, according to DW. The DFB "has taken necessary measures to prevent the statue of limitation from running out" on possible legal action against former German football player Beckenbauer and FIFA. The proceedings "were filed at a Hamburg court" in late '15, the three media outlets reported.
The legal steps taken by the DFB "include starting conciliatory proceedings against FIFA and the World Cup 2006 Organizing Committee." The DFB could face penalties of €25M ($27.9M) "should its non-profit status be retroactively revoked" (DW, 2/5). The AP reported central to the affair "is a suspect payment made to FIFA by the DFB before the 2006 World Cup was awarded."
The DFB previously said that the money was a loan of 10M Swiss francs -- the equivalent of €6.7M or $7.22M -- from then-adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus, paid to FIFA in '02 "to obtain a much larger grant for the World Cup organizing committee." The DFB "later repaid Dreyfus, who died in 2009."
Niersbach, who resigned as DFB president on Nov. 9, said that "the payment had been arranged personally between Beckenbauer, who was leading the bid," and FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Blatter, now suspended, and FIFA "have denied any knowledge of it" (AP, 2/5).
