Beckenbauer 'went to limit' in 2006 World Cup bid

German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has admitted the bidding committee he chaired for the 2006 World Cup “went to the limits” to obtain the finals

Munich: German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has admitted the bidding committee he chaired for the 2006 World Cup “went to the limits” to obtain the finals.

In his first televised interview since magazine Der Spiegel made cash-for-votes allegations, Beckenbauer responded: “What are the limits?” when asked if lines had been crossed. “There was no ethics commission, we could contact members of the (FIFA) executive committee directly. We always went to the limit. It was another time,” Beckenbauer told Sky.

At the centre of the scandal is a 6.7 million euros payment, which is alleged to have been used to purchase the votes of four members of FIFA’s executive committee in 2000 — days before Germany narrowly won the right to host the 2006 finals.

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