FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) – No evidence of vote-rigging in the awarding of the 2006 football World Cup to Germany has been found, although it cannot be ruled out completely, a law firm said yesterday in a report commissioned by the German Football Association.“We have no proof of vote-buying,” Christian Duve of Freshfields told a news conference.
He said he could not rule it out completely, however, because his firm had not been able to talk to everyone involved, including Sepp Blatter, the former president of world football governing body FIFA who has been suspended from football over a separate, wide-reaching corruption scandal.
The affair was triggered by a suspect payment of 6.7 million euros from the German FA (DFB) to FIFA back in 2005. The DFB had said that it was a return of a loan from former Adidas chief Robert Louis-Dreyfus, while Der Spiegel magazine said it was allegedly used to buy votes.
Duve said the 6.7 million euro payment from the DFB had indeed been transferred to FIFA in 2005 but was not intended for the opening ceremony gala as was indicated in documents.
“It was immediately transferred onto an account of Louis-Dreyfus,” Duve said.
Sports equipment maker Adidas, a long-time DFB sponsor, has said it was unaware of any such payment.
The report also identified a payment from then World Cup 2006 organising chief Franz Beckenbauer via a Swiss bank account to scaffolding company Kemco in Qatar, the owner of which was disgraced – former FIFA official Mohammed bin Hammam.
“They landed somewhere in Qatar, this is under the influence of bin Hammam. But anything beyond that is speculation. We had the task of presenting the facts,” said Duve, who added that some documents were missing from the DFB headquarters.
“You could connect the payment with the FIFA re-election of Blatter or for the 2006 vote but that would be pure speculation.”
FIFA said it would study Duve’s report carefully and incorporate the results into its own current investigation.