Frankfurt – The German football federation DFB hopes an external law firm investigating payments to FIFA linked to the 2006 World Cup will complete a report by the end of the year.
The DFB’s acting joint president Rainer Koch told Germany’s ZDF broadcaster late on Saturday he could not say when a report would be ready.
But Koch said he agreed with fellow co-president Reinhard Rauball, who had expressed the hope the report by multinational law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer would be completed by Christmas.
“If however it is at the beginning or middle of January we will have to accept that,’’ he said.
The law firm is set to question German football great Franz Beckenbauer, who was president of the 2006 World Cup organising committee, for a second time over his part in any agreements made in connection with the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.
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Beckenbauer was interviewed on Oct. 26 by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, who are investigating a 6.7 million euros (7.4 million dollars) payment from the DFB to the ruling body FIFA in 2005.
Koch and Rauball have said Beckenbauer signed a contractual agreement on “various services’’ with CONCACAF, signed on their behalf by disgraced former FIFA executive Jack Warner, four days before the 2006 World Cup vote in 2000.
Wolfgang Niersbach, who was a vice-president of the 2006 World Cup organising committee, resigned as DFB president on Nov. 9.
Niersbach, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger and former DFB secretary general Horst R Schmidt are under a tax evasion investigation ordered by Frankfurt prosecutors in connection with the 2005 payment.
According to Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Swiss prosecuting authorities, who are investigating the bid process and election of the 2018 World Cup hosts Russia and 2022 hosts Qatar, are also investigating the German payment to FIFA.
The prosecuting office did not comment on the report.
(dpa/NAN)
