Football legend Beckenbauer '˜given £4.7m for World Cup work'

The German football federation (DFB) says former soccer great Franz Beckenbauer received payments totalling €5.5 million'¨(£4.7m) for his work leading the country's successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Franz Beckenbauer was paid millions for his work in leading Germany's bid for the 2006 World Cup, say football authorities. Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty

Beckenbauer was previously said to have worked in an honorary unpaid capacity for the bid, according to Der Spiegel magazine, which first revealed details of the payments yesterday.

The DFB, in responding to Der Spiegel’s story, says Beckenbauer conducted work for a betting agency that sponsored the bid, and that the DFB made five payments from the proceeds of the sponsorship agreement between February 2005 and October 2006.

Beckenbauer’s original contract with the DFB from 14 October 2004 contained performance-related bonuses.

Beckenbauer is among several people being investigated under a Swiss criminal probe into suspected corruption around the 2006 World Cup.

Nicknamed Der Kaiser, Beckenbauer is one of only two men, along with Brazil’s Mário Zagallo, to have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager.

Twice European Footballer of the Year, he also won three European Cups with Bayern Munich.