Franz Beckenbauer has come under scrutiny over his role in securing the 2006 World Cup for Germany after the president of the Maltese FA raised concerns over a friendly match involving Bayern Munich.

Der Spiegel reported last month that Beckenbauer and German FA (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach from the 2006 World Cup bid committee had set up a €6.7 million slush fund to win the votes of the four Asian members of the Fifa Executive Committee for the right to host the 2006 tournament.

Niersbach has denied the claims and insisted that the money was required to activate a grant of €170m for the organisation of the tournament.

Niersbach said Beckenbauer had vouched for the money, which was repaid to Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus through a FIFA account in 2005, but he was at a loss when asked to explain what the money was used for.

Beckenbauer, who was head of the bid committee as well as Bayern’s president at that time, faces additional scrutiny over the arrangement of a friendly match between his Bayern side and the Maltese national team.

The Mail on Sunday reported that a deal was struck in 2000, prior to the World Cup vote, during a secret meeting between Beckenbauer and Josef Mifsud, who was then head of Malta’s FA and one of the voters for the 2006 bidding rights.

The document is alleged to show that $250,000 went to the Maltese FA, paid by broadcasting firm CWL, which was owned by the late German media giant Leo Kirch, who also held the rights for the 2006 World Cup.

The report added that the contract included “a remarkable clause stating that even the existence of that contract should remain secret.”

Norman Darmanin Demajo, the current Maltese FA president, told the Mail: “Franz Beckenbauer was directly involved in the negotiations for the Bayern friendly.”

Demajo was the treasurer of the Maltese FA at the time of the agreement and said: “Four months after the Bayern Munich contract was signed, I was informed that $250,000 had fallen from the sky into our association’s bank account.

“Give me one logical reason why Beckenbauer would have flown to Malta, had a meeting with Mifsud and then a secret contract is drawn up so that Bayern play here.

“And give me one good reason why Bayern should want to go to Malta, pay all the expenses and give us a quarter of a million and then leave. That’s an insult to my intelligence.”