By Andrew Warshaw
October 23 – Despite attempts to distance himself from the FIFA corruption scandal, German football boss Wolfgang Niersbach’s standing as one of the game’s most respected voices and a prospective future UEFA president are being increasingly questioned as the alleged 2006 World Cup cash-for-votes saga refuses to die down.
Niersbach (pictured right with Beckenbauer) convened a hastily arranged press conference on Thursday and again insisted the organising committee behind Germany’s bid to host the tournament had acted both “fairly” and “legally”.
“We secured the World Cup through fair means,” he said in response to Der Spiegel’s alarming claims that have suddenly catapulted 2006 organisers into the ongoing FIFA crisis . “The World Cup was not bought. What was a summer fairytale remains a summer fairytale.”
Niersbach was responding in depth for the first time since the week-old Spiegel revelations but struggled to answer many questions relating to the slush fund the magazine alleged might have been set up to secure votes. Germany beat favourites South Africa 12-11 six years before staging the event.
Der Spiegel claimed that the organising committee had connived with FIFA to repay €6.7 million loaned by the late Adidas supremo Robert Louis-Dreyfus. Spiegel claimed that the money, which Louis-Dreyfus asked to be paid back before the tournament, might have been used to finance the alleged fund.
The German federation has already conceded it launched an investigation in the summer into why a payment of the same amount had been delivered to FIFA for a ‘cultural programme’.
Niersbach admitted to reporters he could not remember precise details about the payment. Nor could he explain why the organising committee had not sought a bank loan rather than accept money from a private individual. He also conceded he had not informed the DFB about the internal investigation into the mystery payment.
“I knew about this issue back in June. It was my mistake not to have informed the members of the board about it earlier. I take full responsibility,” he said.
The deal for the payment was apparently made during a private meeting between Sepp Blatter and World Cup organizing committee chief Beckenbauer in January 2002 – two years after Germany secured the hosting rights. Niersbach explained that he only learned about it when he visited Beckenbauer at his Austrian residence on Tuesday. The money paid back through FIFA in early 2005 from the World Cup organising committee had been earmarked for an opening gala that had been cancelled.
A former senior journalist, Niersbach admitted several times during the press conference that he was only giving “my view on things” and was unable to deliver a “complete explanation”. He added: “There are a lot of question marks, I can see that myself.”
No sooner had the press conference taken place than FIFA issued a telling statement questioning Niersbach’s suggestion that the money was a legitimate up-front payment transferred to FIFA in order to secure a €170 million subsidy from world football’s governing body.
“That the financial support of FIFA World Cup Organising Committees should be coupled to any kind of financial advance payment by the respective organising committee or the relevant football association in no way corresponds to FIFA’s standard processes and regulations,” it said.
“Furthermore, in general the FIFA finance committee is not authorised to receive payments in any way, nor does it have its own bank account.
“The allegations involving the DFB, the German local organising committee and the 2006 FIFA World Cup are under review as part of the internal investigation being conducted by FIFA with its outside counsel. FIFA will be requesting that the DFB cooperate in this investigation.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1735091014labto1735091014ofdlr1735091014owedi1735091014sni@w1735091014ahsra1735091014w.wer1735091014dna1735091014