According to German newspaper Bild, the homes of DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach, and his predecessor Theo Zwanziger, are also being searched.

"Prosecutors in Frankfurt have opened investigations on suspicion of serious tax evasion linked to the awarding of the football championship in 2006 and the transfer of €6.7 million (£4.8 million/$7.4 million) from the Organising Committee for the German Football Association to the FIFA football association," German prosecutors confirmed.

Last month, Niersbach insisted the payment was not used to buy votes during Germany's successful bid to land the 2006 World Cup, but was unable to fully answer questions about exactly what the money was for.

The undisclosed loan was made by former Adidas chief executive Robert Louis-Dreyfus to the country's Bid Committee in 2000, but never appeared on accounts, reported Der Spiegel.

The money was allegedly used in a slush fund to bribe four Asian members of FIFA's Executive Committee, including South Korea's Chung Mong-joon, banned last month by world football’s governing body's Ethics Committee for six years after being found guilty of offences related to conduct, confidentiality, disclosure and collaboration.

Niersbach, a former vice-president of the German bid, explained that the sum was paid to FIFA in 2002 so they could receive €170 million (£121 million/$187 million) in subsidies from world football’s governing body.

But when asked why they required a €6.7 million payment in order to pay out a far higher sum, he answered: "I do not know that". 

He was also unable to fully explain a similar payment of €6.7 million to FIFA for a Cultural Programme in 2005 and whether it was used as intended. 

Germany, whose bid was led by former World Cup winning captain and coach Franz Beckenbauer, was awarded hosting rights for the 2006 World Cup by the slenderest of margins - 12-11 over South Africa in 2000.

This came after New Zealand's Charlie Dempsey abstained from the decisive second round of voting, blaming  "intolerable pressure" on the eve of the vote.

Louis-Dreyfus, the figure at the centre of the allegations, died in 2009 following a long battle with leukaemia.

It was also announced last month that Beckenbauer faces being banned from football following investigations by the FIFA Ethics Committee into his conduct during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes, when he was a member of the FIFA Executive Committee. 

The 70-year-old admitted last week he had made a "mistake" in the bidding process to host the 2006 World Cup, but denied vote buying.

"In order to get a subsidy from FIFA those involved went ahead with a proposal from the FIFA Finance Commission that in today's eyes should have been rejected," he said. 

"I, as President of the then-Organising Committee bear the responsibility of this mistake."

Today's raids also targeted the home of DFB ex-general secretary Horst Schmidt, according to AFP news agency.



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October 2015: German football chief unable to fully explain suspicious 2006 FIFA World Cup payments
October 2015: Beckenbauer and Villar facing bans, FIFA Ethics Committee reveal
October 2015: Bach calls for "prompt and full" investigation into Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup corruption allegations