German magazine “Der Spiegel” and daily newspaper “Bild” reported on Wednesday that Beckenbauer, who stated he would work on an honorary basis when he took the job in 2000, was paid 5.5 million euros ($6.2 million) as part of an agreement between betting company Oddset and the German soccer federation DFB.
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“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”, Grindel said.
But his reputation has been badly tarnished by his role in the ongoing scandal over the awarding of the 2006 World Cup finals to Germany.
” We knew that Franz Beckenbauer had worked for Oddset during the world Cup 2006″. It was not known to us that he received the noteworthy sum of €5.5million out of the organising committee pot.
“Obviously, given these conditions, we can not say that he had worked on an unpaid basis for the organising committee”, the DFB boss added in a statement from Athens, where he was attending a Uefa congress.
Beckenbauer’s original contract with the DFB from October 14, 2004 contained performance-related bonuses.
“The lottery administration signed a contract [with the DFB] in August 2004 as a national backer for the 2006 World Cup”.
Neither the DFB, which confirmed to Der Spiegel the existence of the deal, nor Beckenbauer were immediately available for comment.
The Attorney General’s office (OAG) said the proceedings related to allegations of fraud, criminal mismanagement, money laundering and misappropriation.
In May, an independent inquiry commissioned by the DFB said it could not rule out that Germany bought votes to secure the 2006 World Cup.
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These were made through various accounts involving other firms or individuals, including Beckenbauer.
