Beckenbauer's reputation has taken a hit from repeated allegations of foul play as a football administrator.
Keystone / Barbara Gindl
The world governing body for football, FIFA, says it has run out of time to prosecute Franz Beckenbauer and two others for allegedly paying bribes in the build up to the 2006 World Cup.
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FIFA aborta processo de propina contra Beckenbauer
FIFA’s adjudicatory chamber, which judges ethical breaches, ruled on Friday that too much time had elapsed from when the alleged offences took place. This announcement was made despite the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee having decided in 2016 that the three defendants violated bribery and corruption codes.
German football legend Beckenbauer, along with Theo Zwanziger and Horst R. Schmidt, were accused of paying a CHF10 million ($11 million) bribe to secure CHF250 million in financing for Germany to stage the 2006 World Cup tournament. All three were members of Germany’s World Cup organising committee.
The payment was made in 2002 to former Qatari football head Mohamed bin Hammam, FIFA statedExternal link. But even taking into account that the corruption scheme lasted until 2006, the adjudicatory chamber decided that the statute of limitations has expired.
A separate Swiss criminal trial into corruption surrounding the 2006 World Cup collapsed last year, also because the prosecution ran out of time.
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Zurich-based FIFA’s ethics committee announced on Wednesday that it had started proceedings against the former German football official, who was also tournament director of the 2006 World Cup organising committee. It has recommended he perform social work and pay a CHF50,000 ($51,652) fine for conduct related to the 2006 World Cup.In its final report, the…
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Both Beckenbauer and Villar – now serving as FIFA’s interim senior vice-president while President Sepp Blatter is suspended – have previously been identified by media as targets of the investigation into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Both men face sanctions for obstructing then-FIFA prosecutor Michael Garcia’s investigation, ethics committee spokesman Marc…
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