Offices of Malta FA raided by police in connection with 2006 World Cup scandal

The offices of the Maltese FA have been raided in connection with the allegations surrounding Germany's successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup ©MFA

Police have raided the offices of the Malta Football Association (MFA) in connection with allegations that Germany bought votes in order to win the race to stage the 2006 FIFA World Cup, according to the governing body’s secretary general Bjorn Vassallo.

The MFA official says officers from the Economic Crimes Unit visited the body’s headquarters in Ta' Qali and searched through archive files as part of an ongoing investigation following claims that the German Football Association (DFB) set up a slush fund in order to buy votes to secure the rights to the 2006 tournament.

Vassallo insists the MFA are cooperating and the raid comes after a meeting was held between the governing body and the authorities, during which they were asked to prepare all documentation and make it available to police.

It follows an investigation by British newspaper the Mail on Sunday, which claimed that a secret contract worth a reported $250,000 (£165,000/€233,000) was signed in 2000 between 2006 World Cup Organising Committee President Franz Beckenbauer and then MFA President Josef Misud for leading Bundesliga club Bayern Munich to play Malta in a friendly match.

Misud then voted for Germany in the World Cup vote just five weeks after the contract was allegedly signed and current MFA head Norman Darmanin Demajo insists Beckenbauer, considered one of his nation’s greatest-ever players, was personally involved in the negotiations.

“Franz Beckenbauer was directly involved in the negotiations for the Bayern friendly,” Damajo said.

“My understanding is that he was in Malta on the day the contract was signed with Mifsud.

“The Germans have always claimed they did nothing wrong.

“They may not have put money in envelopes, but the end result was the same.

“The jigsaw all fits together.”

Franz Beckenbauer has become embroiled at the centre of allegations that Germany bought votes in order to earn the rights to stage the FIFA World Cup ©Getty Images

Beckenbauer, the former Bayern Munich centre-half, has become deeply entwined with the allegations surrounding his country's successful World Cup bid but has so far offered only a brief riposte, remaining adamant that he “never gave money to anyone in order to acquire votes so that Germany is awarded the 2006 World Cup”.

The 70-year-old remains at the heart of the scandal and further concerns were raised when reports surfaced that he allegedly signed a draft contract promising favours to Trinidad and Tobago's Jack Warner shortly before the vote for the tournament.

Rainer Koch, acting President of the DFB, along with Reinhard Rauball, following the resignation of Wolfgang Niersbach over suggestions the successful World Cup bid team received an unexplained loan of almost €6.7 million (£4.9 million/$7.7 million), claimed the contract promised "various services" to Warner, the disgraced former President of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

Koch claimed there is no evidence of whether the actions described in the contract with Warner, who has been banned from football for life and was one of 14 officials charged by American authorities for corruption, were completed.