Franz Beckenbauer: German football legend dies aged 78

Published

2 years ago

January 8, 2024

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German and World Cup football legend Franz Beckenbauer has died, aged 78.

The German defender – nicknamed “Der Kaiser” because of his sublime talent – was regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, winning a World Cup with West Germany as both a player and a manager.

He was also famed for carving out his own role as a sweeper – now often known as a “Libero” – sitting slightly behind his team’s defensive line and sweeping up any man or ball that broke through.

Former England striker Gary Lineker, paying tribute to Beckenbauer, described him as “one of the absolute greats of our game”.

“Very sorry to hear that Franz Beckenbauer has died. Der Kaiser was the most beautiful of footballers who won it all with grace and charm. RIP,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Former England goalkeeper also paid tribute, writing: “Very sad to hear that the great Beckenbauer has sadly passed away.

“He was a fantastic player reaching world-class status. RIP legend”

Clash of the titans with Charlton

Across a nearly two-decade-long career – much of it spent at his boyhood club Bayern Munich – Beckenbauer won an array of trophies, including four Bundesliga titles and three European Cups.

But it was performances on the international stage that many football fans will remember, including lifting the European Championship in 1972 and the World Cup with West Germany in 1974.

He narrowly missed out on the Jules Rimet Cup eight years earlier at Wembley, with England clinching an extra-time victory in the 1966 World Cup final.

It was during that final that Beckenbauer, not yet at the peak of his powers, was told to man-mark England star Bobby Charlton, pitting two of the world’s greatest footballers together.

In the end, such were both their talents, they cancelled each other out, and it was Geoff Hurst who starred, scoring a hat-trick to help England to a famous victory.

“The message he [Beckenbauer] sent out was: ‘Don’t even try it. Coming out to face me is a waste of your time,” Charlton later said of their match-up.

As well as trophies, Beckenbauer won an array of personal honours, including two European Footballer of the Year awards as a defender – a rarity at the time and still to this day.

He also finished runner-up twice and third placed in 1966 – won that year by his World Cup final nemesis, Charlton.

From pitch to the boardroom

After hanging up his boots for the final time – following a short second stint in the US at the New York Cosmos – Beckenbauer turned to management, guiding West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup.

He was one of three men, along with Brazil’s Mario Zagallo, who passed away this month, and France’s Didier Deschamps, to have won the World Cup as both a player and as a manager.

After stepping back from the dugout, Beckenbauer entered into punditry, including for Sky Germany, as well as taking up executive roles at Bayern Munich and with the Germany Football Association.

It was during his spearheading of Germany’s successful 2006 World Cup bid that Beckenbauer became embroiled in controversy, with authorities launching an investigation into allegations of fraud and money laundering in connection with the bid.

He was accused by the Swiss Attorney General’s office of paying Qatari former FIFA executive Mohamed bin Hammam £8.4m before the 2006 World Cup.

Beckenbauer and three other men accused in the investigation denied any wrongdoing, and it was later closed without a verdict in 2020 as the statute of limitations expired.

Beckenbauer was later immortalised in a film – titled Der Kaiser – made about his life in 2022.

In a statement announcing his death, his family said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family,” the family said.

“We ask that you be able to grieve in silence and refrain from asking any questions.”

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

16 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.