Franz Beckenbauer under investigation for alleged corruption and breach of trust, Swiss prosecutors confirm

The iconic footballer is being investigated by Swiss authorities as part a case looking into the 2006 World Cup

Germany football great Franz Beckenbauer is under investigation over alleged corruption (Getty)

Swiss prosecutors have confirmed that they are investigating Germany football great Franz Beckenbauer over a claim of alleged corruption after a report appeared in the media overnight.

German news magazine Der Speigel reported on Thursday that Swiss authorities are pursuing a case against Beckenbauer for suspected money laundering and breach of trust, with Fifa prosecutors confirming the investigation on Thursday morning.

"On behalf of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) I do confirm an ongoing operation regarding the topic you are mentioning in your inquiry," a spokeswoman said when asked about the report.

The spokeswoman also confirmed that more details are expected to be released on Thursday.

Organisers of the 2006 World Cup – led by Beckenbauer – have been under investigation by Swiss prosecutors and the Fifa ethics committee since February after a 361-page report published by the German football federation [DFB] attempted to explain a trail of payments totalling €6.7m and 10m Swiss francs.

Beckenbauer, 70, has denied any wrongdoing.


 The report links Beckenbauer to suspended former Fifa president Sepp Blatter 
 (Reuters)

The money linked Beckenbauer, then-Fifa president Sepp Blatter, Fifa power broker Mohamed bin Hammam and Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the late former Adidas executive and former part owner of Swiss marketing agency Infront.

That report, by law firm Freshfields, suggested a deeper involvement of Beckenbauer, who later joined the Fifa executive committee from 2007-11, than previously suspected.

Investigations by German prosecutors and tax officials of suspected tax evasion by the DFB led Wolfgang Niersbach and Helmut Sandrock to resign in recent months as its president and general secretary respectively. Niersbach was later banned for one year by the Fifa ethics committee for failing to disclose suspected corruption. He has said he will appeal against the ban.

Beckenbauer denies any wrongdoing (Getty)

Beckenbauer and three other senior 2006 World Cup officials are under investigation for suspected bribery by Fifa ethics prosecutors, who opened formal cases in March.

The other three German officials are: Theo Zwanziger, who replaced Beckenbauer on the Fifa executive committee in 2011; Horst Schmidt, vice president of the World Cup organizing panel; and Stefan Hans, chief financial officer for the organizers.

Swiss federal prosecutors are investigating the 2006 World Cup allegations as part of a wider probe of Fifa’s business. It has already put Blatter under criminal investigation for two separate acts of suspected financial mismanagement.

Additional reporting by AP