Former German footballer Franz Beckenbauer has admitted that he made a mistake in the bidding process for the 2006 World Cup.
The 70-year-old said that he was responsible for the mistake as the head of a bidding committee.
Wolfgang Niersbach, the current president of German FA, said Beckenbauer signed an agreement with Sepp Blatter over a 6.7 million Euros payment to FIFA, in return for a financial grant to organize Germany's 2006 World Cup.
Beckenbauer, however, said that no votes were bought to win the bid in the World Cup, Sport24 reported.
He added that it would have been better if the organizing committee had rejected the proposal made by FIFA's financial commission to obtain a financial grant.
Earlier, the FIFA Ethics Committee had opened an investigation against Beckenbauer and Spain's retired footballer Angel Maria Villar over alleged charges of misconduct.
