Berlin: The German Football Federation (DFB) says former football great Franz Beckenbauer received payments totalling 5.5 million euros ($6.2 million) for his work leading the country's successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup.
Beckenbauer was previously said to have worked in an honorary unpaid capacity for the bid, according to Der Spiegel magazine, which first revealed details of the payments on Tuesday.
The DFB, in responding to Der Spiegel's story, says Beckenbauer conducted work for a betting agency that sponsored the bid, and that the DFB made five payments from the proceeds of the sponsorship agreement between February 2005 and October 2006.
Beckenbauer's original contract with the DFB from October 14, 2004 contained performance-related bonuses.
Beckenbauer is among several people under a Swiss criminal probe into suspected corruption around the 2006 World Cup.
