By Andrew Warshaw
November 8 – Secret documentation obtained by Insideworldfootball appears to contradict the assertion of a senior German 2006 World Cup official that no financial inducements were paid to land the tournament.
Last month Fedor Radmann, former vice president of the German organising committee and right-hand man of Franz Beckenbauer, rejected claims made by a German magazine that a slush fund was set up to secure the event.
Der Spiegel claimed that Beckenbauer, who ran the German bid and organised the World Cup itself, and current German FA boss Wolfgang Niersbach, were both aware of the alleged €6.7 million fund that has heaped embarrassment on German officials.
Radmann has insisted the Germans “bought no vote” and that he was “prepared to say that under oath” but amid the deepening scandal, last week tax authorities raided the offices of the German FA and the home of Niersbach looking for clues.
Both Niersbach and Beckenbauer have denied any malpractise but a week after this website revealed Beckenbauer may have been personally involved in influencing the vote, fresh information has come to light from a secret memo from June 2000 which appears to authorise thousands of dollars being paid by associates of Radmann to bank private accounts linked to four FIFA voting members.
The correspondance, dated June 6, 2000, was sent by a lawyer of German media company Kirch to then Kirch CEO Dieter Hahn outlining a so-called “consultancy agreement” and making it clear that Radmann was aware of the scheme.
The letter appears to give the green light for payments to be offered in return for television rights to specially-arranged Bayern Munich friendlies against four countries who had voting members: Malta’s Joseph Mifsud, Trinidad’s Jack Warner, Thailand’s Worawi Makudi and Slim Chiboub of Tunsia.
Warner, for years one of FIFA’s most powerful and manipulative figures, was recently banned for life whilst Makudi is currently under suspension. Bayern played Thailand on June 3, 2000, Malta on January 12, 2001, and Tunisia five days later. The match against Trinidad & Tobago was never held.
The timing of the letter is highly significant in that it is dated just a few days after a lucrative TV deal was struck for Bayern, whose president at the time was Beckenbauer, to face Malta in a friendly.
The contract, negotiated by broadcasting company CWL, which was owned by Kirch, was signed by then Maltese FA president Joseph Mifsud a month before the vote for the 2006 hosts and included a remarkable clause stating that its very existence should remain secret. Mifsud ending up voting for Germany who edged home 12-11 over South Africa.
Former German international Gunter Netzer, who helped in the negotiations for CWL and is mentioned in the secret memo obtained by this website, said at the time the transactions were ‘entirely normal’ and insisted no money had been paid to individual FIFA voting members.
But Maltese FA president Norman Darmanin Demajo, who was treasurer at the time and knew nothing about the deal with Mifsud until several months after a benefit of $250,000 was paid into a private trust account, claimed the letter proved Mifsud had acted unlawfully.
“This letter spells everything out and confirms all my suspicions,” Demajo said. “The Maltese FA has never operated any trust account. The details referred in the letter tally with other facts that were known only to me. You couldn’t make this up even if you tried.
“The letter confirms that just a few weeks before the voting for the WC 2006 venue, four Exco voters were offered considerable sums of money for shady deals that did not make any sense. Reach your own conclusions.”
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