Legendary German former football player and coach Franz Beckenbauer is to help the Russian city of Kaliningrad in its bid to host games at the 2018 World Cup, the city governor said Wednesday.
Kaliningrad, the capital of a small exclave of Russian territory on the Baltic Sea coast, is one of 13 Russian candidate cities for the World Cup, of which two are due to be cut by FIFA’s executive committee.
Beckenbauer worked extensively with FIFA as head of the organizing committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and as the German FA’s vice-president.
“Beckenbauer expressed readiness to provide assistance to Kaliningrad in the preparations for the upcoming World Cup,” city governor Nikolai Tsukanov said on Twitter.
The governor’s assistant Anastasia Volnova told RIA Novosti on Wednesday that Beckenbauer had “promised” to work with the city.
“The footballer promised help as a consultant, in part regarding tourist accommodation,” she said.
“He also rated the convenience of Kaliningrad’s geographical location, between Europe and Russia, highly.”
Beckenbauer left his post as German FA vice-president in 2010 and now works as president of German club Bayern Munich.
He won the 1974 World Cup with West Germany as a player and coached the team to a second World Cup triumph in 1990.
