Beckenbauer was paid millions

FRANZ Beckenbauer, who said he worked for free as chairman of Germany’s World Cup organising committee, actually drew a fee of more than €5m, news website Spiegel Online reported on Wednesday.

The football legend sought to hide the sum from tax authorities, the magazine said, in the latest embarrassment for Beckenbauer, who is being investigated by Swiss authorities in relation to corruption allegations over the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany.

The latest revelation drew anger from German Football Federation chief Reinhard Grindel, who accused the man nicknamed “the Kaiser”, 71, of lying and misleading the public.

According to Spiegel, the sum was taken from a donation of €12m made by a World Cup sponsor — the gambling company Oddset.

Grindel said: “We know that Beckenbauer worked for Oddset in the framework of the World Cup. But we were not aware that he drew €5.5m from the budget of the organisation of World Cup 2006.

“Obviously, given these conditions, we cannot say that he had worked on an unpaid basis for the organising committee.”

Beckenbauer did not declare the sum to tax authorities for four years, according to Spiegel.

But checks by tax authorities led to him paying back €1m.