Franz Beckenbauer was one of "six current or former German federation officials placed under formal investigation by FIFA’s Ethics Committee on Tuesday" for alleged corruption in securing the hosting rights to the 2006 World Cup, according to Joshua Robinson of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Listing a "who’s who" of Germany’s top football brass over the past decade, the committee said it would "investigate possible undue payments and contracts to gain an advantage in the 2006 FIFA World Cup host selection and the associated funding." The announcement followed the publication earlier this month of a "report into the matter" commissioned by the German Football Federation (DFB). While the report found "no evidence of vote-buying, the investigators said they couldn’t rule out corruption as important files disappeared and key witnesses refused to cooperate." Beckenbauer and the DFB "have previously denied any wrongdoing." Besides Beckenbauer, the other officials under investigation are: Wolfgang Niersbach, a former DFB president and current FIFA exec committee member; two former DFB secretaries-general, Helmut Sandrock and Horst Schmidt; Theo Zwanziger, another ex-president of the federation and FIFA exec committee member; and former DFB CFO Stefan Hans (WSJ, 3/22). REUTERS' Franklin & Grohmann reported Niersbach resigned from the DFB presidency after failing to provide explanations for a $7.5M payment from organizers of the 2006 World Cup at which he was a VP to FIFA. He still sits on the FIFA exec committee. Beckenbauer, a World Cup-winning player and coach who headed the 2006 World Cup, "admitted to making mistakes but denied any wrongdoing over the tournament in Germany." He said he "knew nothing of a multi-million dollar payment to a disgraced former FIFA official in Qatar" (REUTERS, 3/22).
