ile photo of former FIFA executive committee member and former Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer arriving on the pitch before his farewell soccer match Nike Air Presto Noir Pas Cher , played between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, in Munich August 13, 2010. [PhotoAgencies]
BERLIN - Franz Beckenbauer, who headed Germany's 2006 World Cup organising committee Nike Air Presto Safari Pas Cher , said on Monday a transfer of 6.7 million euros to world soccer's governing body FIFA in 2005 was a mistake but rejected claims it was a return of a loan to buy votes in favour of the country's World Cup bid.

In a brief statement sent to media, the former World Cup-winning player and coach, who is a key figure in an affair involving an alleged slush fund used to bribe FIFA voting members back in 2000 to award the tournament to Germany, again said the Germans never bought votes.

"In order to get a subsidy from FIFA (for the organisation of the 2006 World Cup) those involved went ahead with a proposal from the FIFA finance commission that in today's eyes should have been rejected. I Nike Air Presto Ultra Flyknit Pas Cher , as President of the then organising committee bear the responsibility of this mistake."

But he said any claims of a votes-for-cash deal were not true.

"There were no votes bought in order to get the nod for the 2006 World Cup," Beckenbauer, 70, said.

Der Spiegel magazine had reported an alleged slush fund of 6.7 million euros was used to buy votes for Germany. The money had been provided by then Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus Nike Air Presto Ultra Uncaged Pas Cher , the magazine said.

The German Football Association (DFB) has rejected the claims as groundless but has said it was investigating a payment of the same amount from the organising committee to FIFA in 2005.

DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach, who was vice president of the 2006 World Cup organising committee, acknowledged last week there were unanswered questions surrounding that payment, saying the money was demanded by FIFA's finance committee in order to pay out a contribution of 170 million euros towards the Germans' organisational budget.

When asked why the Germans have to pay FIFA a small sum to unlock a payment for them that was much larger Nike Air Presto Pas Cher , Niersbach, a vice-president of the organising committee back in 2005, said he did not know.

Der Spiegel claims the 2005 payment to FIFA was repaying Louis-Dreyfus for his loan five years earlier through the soccer body. Niersbach's predecessor Theo Zwanziger has also said there was an alleged slush fund.

Niersbach has been invited to appear before Germany's parliamentary committee on sports on Nov. 4 but has yet to say whether he will go.

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania said on Friday it has seized 377 kilograms of ivory and arrested six people in connection with the haul.

Jumanne Maghembe Nike Air Max 97 Undefeated Pas Cher , the east African nation's Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, said the pieces of ivory were seized in a special operation conducted in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Maghembe told a news conference that the suspects will be taken to court after completion of investigations.

"We will never look back in our anti-poaching drive until we control the situation," said Maghembe.

The suspects were nabbed on Thursday night at Mbezi Beach area.

A census conducted in 2014 showed that there were only 41,330 elephants in Tanzania. This means there has been a 60 percent decrease in the elephant population since 2009 when there were 114 Nike Air Max 97 Pas Cher ,554 elephants.

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WELLINGTON, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government was accused Thursday of double standards in its efforts to stamp out international tax avoidance after an opposition party revealed the government's own superannuation fund was using tax havens.

The Green Party said it had gained information through parliamentary questions to ministers that showed the publicly- funded New Zealand Superannuation Fund had 1.6 billion NZ dollars (1.32 billion U.S. dollars) in investment vehicles in tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands and Mauritius.

"It's simply unethical and hurts regular tax payers Nike Air VaporMax Flyknit Pas Cher , who have to pay more tax when large multinationals use tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of tax," Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said in a statement.

Norman cited government statements pledging to clamp down on tax evasion and to work with the international community in eliminating tax havens.

"We have a government that is allowing the New Zealand super fund to use tax havens to avoid paying tax while simultaneously working to eliminate international tax avoidance through tax havens," said Norman.

"This is clearly a double standard. We can't both profit from tax havens and try to shut them down," he said.

"That will simply undermine our international reputation -- something the super fund is specifically legislated to avoid."

He called on Finance Minister Bill English to direct the fund to divest the money invested through tax havens.

"We can still make good returns without hurting others."

By Peter Barker

LONDON Nike Air VaporMax Pas Cher , Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The St Jude storm in Britain has left a trail of death and damage in its wake on Monday.

A man and a woman were killed in a gas explosion in the west London area of Hounslow after a tree fell and severed a gas main. The explosion destroyed three properties. A Metropolitan Police Spokesman told Xinhua that three more people were injured .