Australia - Germany: a special relationship

Australia enjoyed a special relationship with Germany during its bid for the 2018/2022 World Cup. Another coincidence, or more naivety?

The revelations in the weekend edition of Der Spiegel by investigative journalist, Jens Weinreich, regarding the manner in which Germany is alleged to have won the bid for the 2006 World Cup, and involving the German Football Federation (DFB), Franz Beckenbauer, Wolfgang Niersbach, and Australia’s World Cup Bid consultant, Fedor Radmann, are no surprise.

Suspicious activity around the awarding of the 2006 tournament was first reported by Weinreich and Thomas Kistner some years ago. Weinreich and Kistner were never sued. In typical FIFA fashion, Radmann, their colleague Andreas Abold (who was also engaged by the Australian Bid) and their close friends within the upper echelons of world football administration, declared Weinreich and Kistner were wrong and ‘idiot journalists’.

According to Der Spiegel, the men behind the successful German bid determined they needed a slush fund to secure support especially amongst the Asian voters. The (now deceased) Chairman of long-time FIFA, Germany and Bayern Munich sponsor, adidas, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, loaned the money to the German Bid team. Germany won the Bid. Prior to the World Cup, Louis-Dreyfus wanted his loan repaid so Beckenbauer and Niersbach, then head and deputy head of the Germany 2006 Organising Committee, allegedly arranged for some creative accounting and transfer of funds that apparently saw FIFA, using DFB money, repay to Louis-Dreyfus the loan he had advanced to the German Bid Committee.

It sounds similar to the alleged inappropriate payment from South Africa to CONCACAF in respect of the 2010 World Cup for the ‘African Diaspora Fund’.

Der Spiegel also details the long and close working partnership between Radmann, Beckenbauer and others at FIFA as part of the ISL scandal, first reported by Andrew Jennings. Amongst other things, Weinreich writes (translation from German):

“Beckenbauer and Radmann were the key men. They were flesh of the flesh of a system in which cleanliness does not pay and the honest reason is the stupid one.”

The same people involved in the alleged scheme to win Germany the 2006 World Cup were much the same as those involved in the Australian Bid. In fact, the FFA and the DFB had a ‘special relationship’ from 2007 onwards.

For the German Bid, Fedor Radmann was the CEO and then a consultant, assisted by marketing consultant Andreas Abold, under the leadership of Franz Beckenbauer.

For the Australian Bid, Radmann was a ‘strategy advisor’ (at a cost of $150,000 per month for two years), while Abold was responsible for the Bid Book, the final presentation and the technical inspection of facilities. Abold was also the conduit through which Radmann was paid for his services to Australia. The Australian Bid also enjoyed the public support – if not the actual vote – of Beckenbauer.

Was it just coincidence, or perhaps naivety, that Australia engaged Radmann and his colleague, Abold, and enjoyed the support of Beckenbauer – all at a cost of around $14 million – despite knowing about the earlier reports of the German bid from Weinreich and Kistner? 

Weinreich’s revelations may also explain why FIFA’s long standing sponsor, adidas, has stolidly refused to agree to independent governance reforms advocated by #NewFIFANow – in marked contrast to other long-standing sponsors, Coca-Cola, VISA and McDonalds. The Der Spiegel revelations allege that adidas is implicated in the Germany 2006 scandal, just as they have been hand-in-hand with FIFA since Horst Dassler made Sepp Blatter the first ‘development officer’ …. followed closely by Fedor Radmann.

This latest revelation, coming on top of so many others, underscores why we need a time-limited and external independent FIFA Reform Commission led by an eminent person to bury the rotting carcass of FIFA, and start again, as advocated by #NewFIFANow. This is supported by :

• European Parliament

• House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport

• Transparency International

• International Trade Union Confederation

• FIFPro

• Football Supporters Europe

• Football Supporters UK

• Coca-Cola

• McDonalds

• VISA.

Congratulations to Jens Weinreich who has doggedly pursued this story for 15 years. Along with Andrew Jennings, he is one of the true heroes of the unraveling of FIFA.

Photos via Der Spiegel.