Berlin: German legend Franz Beckenbauer has admitted to making a "mistake" in the bidding process to host the 2006 World Cup in Germany but yesterday totally denied that any votes were bought during the process. Beckenbauer was the head not only of the World Cup organising committee but also Germany's bid.


Franz Beckenbauer

Ten days ago, German
magazine Der Spiegel accused the German bid team of buying votes. The 70-year-old said the bid committee accepted a proposition that "should have been rejected" and said he took "full responsibility for this mistake", although he added in a written statement that "no votes were bought".