Shady deals are not uncommon in Bavaria, and FC Bayern are no stranger to them either. This concerns suspicious payments and bizarre friendlies — in Malta, Thailand and Tunisia.
CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge denied that the club played friendlies in 2000 (when the World Cup was being awarded) in precisely those countries whose FIFA executive committee members would ultimately decide on the tournament's allocation. And at prices that were far from market standard. Maltese investigators took an interest in one very specific contract that was signed shortly before the World Cup vote at the private residence of Malta's then football association president, Joe Mifsud.
The lucrative TV contract with Swiss TV rights agency CWL brought the association decent revenue. It concerned the television rights for the 2001 friendly between Malta and Bayern. Allegedly, $250,000 flowed into the coffers of Malta's football association. The background remained largely unknown; the allegation was never conclusively proven.
Since 2015, Beckenbauer has been at the centre of international investigations. The mystery of the €6.7 million was never resolved before his death.
