First World Cup memorabilia auction on Saturday

FRANKFURT, GERMANY (staff report) - A tie from organising committee chief Franz Beckenbauer, a track suit from coach Juergen Klinsmann and football boots from German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

These are just some of the most prominent World Cup memorabilia up for auction from Saturday onwards, the organising committee of the June 9-July 9 tournament said on Monday.

Football fans will be able to bid on more than 1,000 items including corner flags, goals, substitute benches, photographers' bibs, World Cup signs and inventory from media and hospitality centres in the 12 host cities.

The generated income will go to various charities.

The memorabilia will be sold at six auctions in Munich (August 5), Kaiserslautern (August 7), Cologne (August 12), Frankfurt (August 14), Berlin (August 19) and Hamburg (August 26).

The catalogue for the first two auctions is available online at the Dechow auctioneers at www.dechow.de.