Police have raided the headquarters of the German Football Association (DFB) over allegations of tax evasion linked to the awarding of the 2006 World Cup.
The homes of DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach and former president Theo Zwanziger were also searched as part of an operation involving 50 officers.
It follows a report in the German news weekly Der Spiegel last month that said the DFB made a secret payment of 6.7m euro (£4.6m) to FIFA in 2005. An internal audit has failed to find any trace of the 6.7m euros in the DFB's tax documents.
In a statement, German prosecutors said: "Prosecutors in Frankfurt have opened investigations on suspicion of serious tax evasion linked to the awarding of the football championship in 2006 and the transfer of 6.7m euros of the organising committee for the German Football Association (DFB) to the FIFA football association."
The raids follow similar police action at FIFA's headquarters earlier this year.
Frank Beckenbauer, who lives in Austria, was president of the 2006 World Cup bid and last week admitted the DFB had made a "mistake" in paying the 6.7m euros, but denied that the money was used to buy votes.
He said: "In order to obtain financial support from FIFA, a suggestion by FIFA's finance commission was followed which, in hindsight, should have been rejected.
"No votes were bought in order to win the right to stage the 2006 World Cup."
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