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Beckenbauer admits 'mistake' in WC bid

Munich - German football legend Franz Beckenbauer on Monday admitted to a "mistake" for the first time in the bidding for the 2006 World Cup.

The organizing committee should not have entertained a recommendation from the FIFA finance commission to obtain a grant, Beckenbauer said.

The former player and coach said that as head of the bidding committee at the time that he carries "the responsibility."

A former president of the German Football Association (DFB), Theo Zwanziger, has charged that a payment of $7.6 million dollars made during the 2006 bidding came from a secret slush fund used to buy FIFA votes.

"There were no votes bought to win the bid for the 2006 World Cup," Beckenbauer said Monday.

Current DFB president, Wolfgang Niersbach, said Beckenbauer came to an agreement in 2002 with FIFA chief Joseph Blatter over a €6.7 million  payment to FIFA. The association in return secured a 250-million-frank grant for organizing the 2006 championships.

Blatter has denied meeting with Beckenbauer.

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