Football
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Franz Beckenbauer returns to TV role, confirms Freshfields talks

Franz Beckenbauer confirmed he has spoken to investigators about the 2006 World Cup scandal as he resumed his role as a pundit on German television.

Beckenbauer has not worked on Sky TV since mid-October, when Der Spiegel raised questions over a controversial €6.7 million payment made by the German Football Association's (DFB) World Cup organising committee, which he had led.

However, the honorary Bayern Munich president was back in the job ahead of Tuesday's Champions League action, saying: "I am delighted to finally be back here once again, and can now talk football with reasonable people."

He confirmed he had spoken to Freshfields, the investigators hired by the DFB, earlier in the day.

The 70-year-old said he had talked to them for "several hours" and that he "answered all questions," adding: "I've done my part."

He said he would be willing to answer more questions if required but added: "At some point it has to end."

Beckenbauer has faced a series of allegations over the vote to host the 2006 World Cup in recent weeks.

Der Spiegel reported that a €6.7m slush fund was set up to buy the votes of Asian representatives on FIFA's Executive Committee prior to the vote for in 2000.

Beckenbauer has said he made a "mistake" in making the €6.7m payment to FIFA but denied the cash was used to votes.

Frankfurt prosecutors raided the DFB's offices as well as the private homes of Wolfgang Niersbach, who resigned as DFB president this month, predecessor Theo Zwanziger and the association's former general secretary Horst R. Schmidt amid suspicions of fraud concerning the €6.7m.

Beckenbauer has more recently faced renewed questions over friendlies organised by Bayern when he was the club's president. 

The DFB's acting leaders, Rainer Koch and Reinhard Rauball, also raised serious questions over a contract draft agreed with former FIFA Executive Committee member Jack Warner. Warner has denied that he made any agreement with Beckenbauer. 

Beckenbauer, meanwhile, criticised Koch and Rauball in Suddeutsche Zeitung and told the newspaper that he had been willing to put pen to paper on contracts that had not yet been written.

In a special interview on Sky that was aired on Monday, he addressed the Warner agreement again, saying: "That was 15 years ago. I think it's a tall order to remember everything I've said and signed and why, given I had 300 travel days that year."

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