Investigation into 2006 World Cup bid finds no evidence of vote rigging

Investigation into 2006 World Cup bid finds no evidence of vote rigging
By Euronews
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An international law firm commissioned by the German football federation says it has found no evidence of vote-rigging in the build up to Germany

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An international law firm commissioned by the German football federation says it has found no evidence of vote-rigging in the build up to Germany hosting the 2006 World Cup.

Der Spiegel magazine has alleged some 6.7 million euros was used to buy votes from members of Asian Fifa executive committee members in order to win the hosting rights.

Representative of the lawfirm Christian Duve said: “I would like to summarize here: We have no proof of vote buying. Although we cannot rule it out completely. We were looking very closely at the voting of the various FIFA executive committee members, which was under question considering the German candidacy”.

The report alleges that Robert Louis-Dreyfus – who ran Adidas in the late ’90s and early 2000s, made the money available to Germany’s bidding committee to pay off the officials and was later paid back via Fifa’s own bank accounts for a FIFA gala which was later cancelled.

Duve added: “You all know that this payment has been declared as a contribution from the DFB (German football federation) to a FIFA gala. After our investigations, we conclude that it was not for this FIFA gala but had been intended for Robert Luis Dreyfuss.”

Germany’s bidding committee at the time was headed by German football legend and 1974 world cup winning captain Franz Beckenbauer who has strongly rejected claims that a slush fund was set up to buy votes.

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