German Football Federation general secretary Helmut Sandrock resigns

Helmut Sandrock has resigned as general secretary of the German Football Federation.

The 59-year-old says he is looking for the organisation to make a fresh start under a new president ahead of a report into allegations surrounding Germany's successful bid for the 2006 World Cup.

Sandrock's departure comes one week before the scheduled release of a report into alleged dubious payments to FIFA surrounding the World Cup bid.

Former DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach resigned in November after it was claimed he knew about and assisted in the making of payments to secure votes, allegations he denied.

Sandrock said in a statement: "It is good practice and normal to give a newly-elected president of the DFB the chance to propose a new general secretary for election.

"For the good of our football and the DFB it is necessary to make a completely new start in a credible and consistent manner, also in terms of personnel."

Sandrock had served as general secretary of the DFB since 2012.

In a statement on the DFB website, first vice president Reinhard Rauball, who is attending the FIFA Congress in Zurich, said: "Helmet has proven, especially at this difficult time for the DFB, to be a reliable partner, keeping his personal interests subordinate to those of the sport and the association."

In November, tax authorities raided the DFB's headquarters after it emerged the federation had made a secret payment of 6.7m euros (£4.6m) to FIFA in 2005. An internal audit failed to find any trace of the 6.7m euros in the DFB's tax documents.

German news weekly Der Spiegel had claimed the money had been used to set up a slush fund to buy votes in the 2006 World Cup bidding process.