Head of German Soccer Association denies any bribery in 2006 World Cup bid
Oct 27, 2015 The President of the German Soccer Association, Wolfgang Niersbach recently challenged reports of bribery surrounding the Germany 2006 World Cup award.
While speaking to journalists in Frankfurt, Niersbach said:
“The very important and main message, and I already highlighted it last week, is that regarding the awarding of the 2006 World Cup everything was carried out legally. There were no slush funds and no votes were bought. We won it through a vote on the sixth of July 2000 with twelve votes to eleven. It was a secret ballot. We do not know who voted for us,”
A German newspaper alleged that the country’s 2006 World Cup bid committee bribed officials from the world soccer governing body FIFA to win the vote for the tournament.
Defending this, Niersbach added:
“The claim that we were granted this wonderful World Cup in 2006 through incorrect means, is definitely not true,”