A report by a law firm into the 2006 World Cup corruption allegations says there is no evidence of vote-buying on the part of German bidders. However, the report says vote-buying can't be ruled out.
"We found no evidence of vote-buying but we also cannot rule it out," said the report by Freshfields, the firm hired by the German football federation to investigate the allegations first made by the Der Spiegel magazine on Oct. 16.
The report, presented by Freshfields lawyer Christian Duve at a news conference, said a payment of 6.7 million euros ($7.3 million) made by the German federation to FIFA on April 27, 2005, was "falsely declared" by the World Cup organizing committee for an opening gala and that the money had been intended for former Adidas chief Robert louis-Dreyfus.
That same day, FIFA transferred the money to a Swiss account set up by the late louis-Dreyfus, and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was aware of the payment, Freshfields said in its report.
louis-Dreyfus, who died in 2009, had opened the Swiss account in August 2002, shortly before a payment of 10 million Swiss francs — roughly the equivalent of 6.7 million euros — was paid to a Swiss law firm. The Swiss law firm's account also showed previously unknown money transfers with Franz Beckenbauer, who was leading Germany's World Cup bid at the time.
The 10 million Swiss francs was then transferred to a company in Qatar, belonging to disgraced former FIFA official Mohamed Bin Hammam. Its stated purpose was for the TV and marketing for the 2006 Asian Games, Duve said.
Bin Hammam has denied receiving the money, according to the report.
Freshfields said it encountered several "hurdles" in conducting its probe, including missing electronic information, deleted emails, files that weren't accessible and people who declined to talk with its investigators, including Blatter.
"Because of these restrictions, we cannot present a conclusive picture today," Freshfields said.
The firm's lawyers examined 128,000 electronic and other documents and interviewed 31 people.
Duve said some emails had been deleted and that they could not interview some people, including Blatter, whose lawyer declined an invitation.
A contract concluded with now disgraced FIFA official Jack Warner four days before the 2000 vote on the host of the 2006 World Cup also came under scrutiny.
Duve said Warner used some favors mentioned in the deal, such as receiving flags and tickets for his Trinidad and Tobago federation, and had been wined and dined in Germany, but that the economic value of the services was relatively minor.
Reiner Koch, one of the two acting presidents of the German federation, said the contract was "very unusual."
Reinhard Grindel, the federation treasurer who is the only candidate to become its president next month, called for the federation to establish an ethics commission to prevent future affairs.
The report said Wolfgang Niersbach, the former German federation president who resigned in November, did not know about the payment at the center of the affair until 2015. The report presented no new evidence against Niersbach, who remains on the FIFA executive committee.
UEFA awaits Platini verdict
NYON: UEFA is ready to run a fast-track presidential election to replace Michel Platini if he fails to overturn his six-year ban.
With the Court of Arbitration for Sport aiming to give Platini an appeal verdict in May, UEFA could call an election meeting before June 10, when the European Championship kicks off in Paris.
"It is possible after we have the decision from CAS," UEFA legal director Alasdair Bell said Friday, adding that current rules requiring a three-month election campaign "can be shortened."
The UEFA executive committee confirmed on Friday that no potential election process would begin until Platini's legal challenge at CAS is completed.
Platini's appeal against his six-year ban for conflict of interest — taking a $2 million payment from FIFA approved by then-president Sepp Blatter in 2011 — was filed this week at the sports court in lausanne, Switzerland.
CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb told this week that a two-month timetable was realistic for the case.
"Whenever there is a decision we can immediately hold an executive committee meeting and go to an accelerated process for the election," said Theodore Theodoridis, who UEFA appointed interim general secretary on Friday.
UEFA has been without an elected leader since Platini was provisionally suspended from duty by FIFA last October.
Theodoridis was promoted to replace his former boss, Gianni Infantino, who was elected FIFA president last week.