Football: Germany coach Loew backs Niersbach in cash-for-votes claims
DFB borrowed 10.3 million Swiss francs ($10.8m) in 2000 in order to buy the votes: Der Spiegel
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany coach Joachim Loew has given his full backing to German Football Federation (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach in the face of corruption allegations surrounding the attribution of the 2006 World Cup.
"His word is 100 percent reliable," declared Loew in a DFB statement, as he said conclusions drawn "without proof" in the press in recent days were unfair.
News weekly Der Spiegel claimed last week that the DFB borrowed 10.3 million Swiss francs ($10.8m) in 2000 in order to buy the votes for the hosting of the 2006 finals of four Asian members of FIFA s 24-strong executive committee.
It claimed the money was borrowed from the now-deceased former CEO of German sportswear giant Adidas, Robert Louis-Dreyfus.
Spiegel claimed the DFB then transferred 6.7 million euros (the equivalent exchange rate for the borrowed Swiss francs at the time) to a FIFA account in 2005 to reimburse Louis-Dreyfus.
But Niersbach has vigorously denied any corruption and dismissed Spiegel s claims the 2006 organising committee had a slush fund to buy votes.
Loew, who was the assistant to Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann during the 2006 World Cup, is confident that any "unanswered questions will be clarified".
Germany has been rocked by the claims. Meanwhile, the DFB acknowledged before the Spiegel article was even published that a payment of 6.7 million euros was made to FIFA in April 2005.
However, they said the sum was not linked to the attribution of the 2006 finals.
"There was no slush fund and no buying of votes," Niersbach, who was on the organising committee headed by Germany great Franz Beckenbauer, affirmed on Monday.
Beckenbauer said in a statement on Sunday that he had "not sent anyone money to acquire votes for the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany."
However, German authorities are looking into the case and a spokesperson for Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded that "light be shone" on it.
Germany won the right to host the 2006 World Cup by beating South Africa with 12 votes to 11 after New Zealand s Charles Dempsey abstained in the final ballot.
