BERLIN, Dec. 28 (dpa/EP) –
Walter Beckenbuer, brother of the German and world football legend Franz Beckenbauer, warns that the world champion is not “well” due to the continuing controversy over whether he bought votes for Germany to be chosen as the host of the 2006 World Cup.
The German public television channel 'ARD' will broadcast in January a new documentary about Beckenbauer, winner of the 1974 World Cup as a player and in 1990 as a coach, which will talk about his legacy stained by suspicions of influence peddling and his exploits sports.
The 'Kaiser', 78, has been accused of using his influence to help Germany buy FIFA votes in order to obtain the rights to host the 2006 World Cup. The accusations are not proven, but The legendary former defender has retired from the public scene and now lives in Austria.
“If I said now that he was fine, I would be lying, and I don't like to lie. He's not doing well, it's a constant up and down,” says his brother Walter in the documentary, in which Beckenbauer himself does not appear but high-ranking officials do. German politicians, among them the former Minister of the Interior and Finance Wolfgang Schäuble, who died this Wednesday at the age of 81 and one of those who defend him.
“The scandal that is being made about him today seems somewhat exaggerated to me. He certainly made mistakes, that is, not everyone does everything well. In that sense, he is also a human being,” Schäuble confessed.
Former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also states in the documentary that the coach who won the World Cup in 1990 should not be pilloried after having achieved so much in 2006. “We Germans wanted (to organize) the World Cup, including myself, and we were happy to have had Franz Beckenbauer. In this sense, it is also hypocrisy to a certain extent. We should also accuse ourselves. I cannot understand how people turned away, how Beckenbauer was suddenly the black sheep, to even though he did such great things for our country,” he emphasizes.