German FA denies 2006 World Cup ‘slush fund’ allegations

The German Football Association (DFB) has denied allegations that a secret ‘slush fund’ was set up to secure votes for the country to host football’s 2006 Fifa World Cup.

German magazine Der Spiegel said today that it has documents that detail how a €6.7m ($7.6m) fund was established using money provided by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who was then chief executive of sportswear giant Adidas, but was reportedly acting in a private capacity.

The German World Cup organising committee made a €6.7m contribution for a gala opening ceremony at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium which was later cancelled . According to Der Spiegel, the money was paid into a Fifa bank account in Geneva, Switzerland before being transferred on to a Zurich account belonging to Louis-Dreyfus.