German legend Franz Beckenbauer is under investigation for the role he played in his country’s successful 2006 World Cup bid.
The BBC reports that the 2006 World Cup organising committee, of which Beckenbauer was president, is accused of fraud, criminal mismanagement, money laundering and misappropriation.
In March of this year, FIFA opened a case which scrutinised the roles played by six of the committee members in their successful bid.
Claims centre around a $7.8 million payment made by the German Football Association (DFB) to FIFA, allegedly in exchange for votes.
It has now been revealed that Beckenbauer is on top of the list of figures that Swiss prosecutors believe may be guilty, producing the following statement regarding the matter:
“It is suspected that the suspects knew that this sum was not being used to fund the gala event, but instead to repay a debt that was not owed by the DFB.
“In particular, it is suspected that the suspects wilfully misled their fellow members of the executive board of the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup.
“This was presumably done by the use of false pretences or concealment of the truth, thus inducing the other committee members to act in a manner that caused DFB a financial loss.”
The 70-year-old has previously admitted that a “mistake” was made during the process, but denied that he ever handed “money to anyone in order to buy votes.”
The 2006 World Cup vote ended 12-11 in favour of Germany over South Africa, who were to instead host the following tournament in 2010.
If proven guilty, Beckenbauer could face up to five years in jail.
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