In the Series of FIFA Corruption: Ben Hammam Admits Receiving 6.7 million Euros from Germany

[su_label type=”info”]SMA News – Sport – Follow-ups[/su_label][su_spacer size=”10″] Mohamed Ben Hammam, the Qatari figure and former vice president of FIFA, admitted receiving 6.7 million Euros from Germany, negating the payment to be a bribe for hosting 2006 Mondial. In his interview with ZDF channel, Ben Hammam said: “Yes, 6.7 million Euros entered my account, but I need to know something … why should Germany bribe me for something they already had?” Ben Hammam, who was band from practicing any activities related to soccer in 2011 explained that the money entered his account in 2000 after granting Germany the right to host the Mondial. In his answer to a question about the reason Germany payed him that money he said: “I don’t know … really, I don’t know, but excuse me, only you cares about it and no one else”. In 2000, Germany had the right to host 2006 Mondial and the money was transferred in 2002 from the account of the organization committee to a company owned by Ben Hammam while Franz Beckenbauer was chairman of the organization committee and Robert Shuan was its CEO. Beckenbauer negated all rumors about bribery saying that organizers of the German Mondial wanted to receive organizational costs, a claim denied by Joseph Platter, former president of FIFA. In an interview with “Sports Bild”, Reinhardt Grindle, chairman of the German Football Federation, indicated that he asked to meet Ben Hammam in Qatar to discuss that payment, but he didn’t receive any answer. In November 2015, the Swiss DA launched an investigation that involved Beckenbauer and other personnel of the German Football Federation