Franz Beckenbauer has denied being offered any bribe to vote for Russia or Qatar to host the World Cup.
The World Cup winner both as a player and a coach, was a member of the FIFA executive committee which chose the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, said he had “nothing to hide” and called upon FIFA to publish the eagerly awaited report into the bidding process.
Asked if anyone had attempted to buy his vote, Beckenbauer said: “That’s a clear no.
“Nobody offered me anything in order to influence my vote. This did not happen.”
Beckenbauer was named by The Sunday Times as one of the subjects of leaked emails detailing the activities of senior football figures prior to the 2010 vote.
The files showed that Beckenbauer travelled to Qatar as a guest of Mohamed Bin Hammam, the Emirate’s disgraced former FIFA executive committee member, a year earlier and met the country’s Emir.
Documents show Bin Hammam invited Beckenbauer again five months after the vote – and after he had stepped down from the executive committee – along with bosses from an oil and gas shipping firm which was employing the German as a consultant.
The 69-year-old was then banned by FIFA for refusing to co-operate with the investigation into the 2010 ballot, a suspension which was lifted after he relented.
The German has never publicly declared how he voted in 2010.
He said of Qatar’s shock triumph: “I was surprised, too, that Qatar was chosen.”
Beckenbauer said there was “no evidence to my knowledge” that the 2010 ballot was corrupt and called for the FIFA report into the bidding process to be published.
The 430-page document submitted by its chief investigator, Michael J Garcia, is currently set to be buried due to a “confidentiality” clause in FIFA’s ethics code.
“It should be published as quickly as possible,” Beckenbauer said.
“Why not? I don’t see any reason why it should not be published.”
