Did Germany bribe FIFA to host the 2006 World Cup?

The FIFA bribery scandal claims another culprit, as German officials are being accused of bribing officials to land the 2006 World Cup.

Things have been really bad for FIFA and the world of international soccer for a while now thanks to an ongoing investigation into a bribery scandal that seems to have no end in site. However, it appears that the far reaching scandal will only get worse as more and more becomes uncovered.

According to German newspaper Der Spiegel (h/t Sports Illustrated), officials in Germany set-up a $10.3 million slush fund designed to sway four Asian representatives on FIFA’s governing board during the June 2000 vote for the 2006 World Cup. Germany was inevitably awarded the 2006 World Cup and the host country claimed third in the tournament that was eventually won by Italy.

Per the report, the fund was created by former Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Drefus. Incidentally also led Infront Sports & Media, a sports marketing agency that handled all of the media rights distribution for both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

Two of the three Asian representatives accused of accepting the bribe have since passed away, as has Louis-Drefus. The other, Chung Mong-joon of South Korea is the former president of the South Korean Football Association and is an heir in the Hyundai corporation. Incidentally, Mong-joon announced his candidacy for the FIFA presidency to replace Sepp Blatter.

According to the German paper, the investigation has taken form due to an internal audit into of a $6.7 million euro payment made to fund a opening celebration, but when the event was canceled, the funds went missing. It was later found that they had been rerouted to a Zurich bank account belonging to Louis-Drefus in an attempt to pay him back.

The scandal continues to see all sorts of attention and further investigations. There are currently separate inquiries being done in Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Switzerland. Additionally, many of the organizations top ranking officials have already been suspended or released from their positions, including president Sepp Blatter, who was suspended for 90 days along with Michael Platini and Jérôme Valcke while the organization completes its investigation into the three top officials.

(h/t Sports Illustrated)