Disgraced Qatari official Mohamed bin Hammam has admitted receiving the money but denied it was a bribe ©Getty Images

Disgraced Qatari official Mohamed bin Hammam has admitted receiving a €6.7 million (£5.9 million/$8.1 million) payment from Germany but claimed it was not a bribe linked to the awarding of the 2006 World Cup.

In an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, Bin Hammam said he had been given the money after Germany was named as the host of the 2006 tournament in July 2000 and it therefore could not be considered a bribe.

The money was sent from an account controlled by the German bid to one belonging to a company owned by the Qatari in 2002.

"The 6.7 million euros has gone into my account, yes," he told ZDF.

"But I would like to know why Germany should have bribed me for something they have already received."

Allegations that a slush fund of €6.7 million (£5.8 million/$7.2 million) was set up in order to bribe members of FIFA's ruling Executive Committee have been at the centre of corruption accusations surrounding the German bid.

Former Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer, who served as the head of the Organising Committee for the tournament, has insisted no bribes were paid.

When asked by ZDF whether the money was a bribe, Bin Hammam, banned from football for life by FIFA, said: "I do not know.

"No, of course I know, but excuse me - it's only you who cares, no-one else."

Franz Beckenbauer, left, and Mohamed bin Hammam have denied allegations of bribery ©Getty Images
Franz Beckenbauer, left, and Mohamed bin Hammam have denied allegations of bribery ©Getty Images

Beckenbauer and three other officials - former German Football Association (DFB) Presidents Wolfgang Niersbach and Theo Zwanziger and ex-secretary general Horst Schmidt - are the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland concerning the bid race.

Beckenbauer was questioned by the Swiss Attorney General's Office last year.

World football's governing body began an investigation in March 2016, while a report from law firm Freshfields, who were commissioned by the DFB to investigate the accusations, found no evidence of vote-buying within the German bid when it was published.

However, it suggested that the possibility cannot be ruled out due to the amount of files and documents that could not be obtained.

The report did uncover potentially damaging claims concerning Beckenbauer.

It revealed a series of suspicious payments he allegedly made to bin Hammam.

The German bid defeated South Africa by a narrow margin of 12 votes to 11 back in 2000 after New Zealand's Charlie Dempsey abstained from the second round of voting after stating there had been "intolerable pressure" prior to the ballot.