If the former World Cup-winning German skipper and coach thought enough time had elapsed for his remarks on television to be dismissed, he has been proved wrong with at least one TSV player from the era attacking his attitude.

The row revolves around a late-season 5-2 defeat of Bayern by Eintracht Braunschweig in the 1966-'67 campaign which eventually handed Eintracht the title, two points ahead of TSV. Bayern finished sixth.

"We lost 5-2 in Braunschweig and that suited us," Beckenbauer, now a Bayern executive, told German television channel Sat1.

"There is prescription and I can say it now. We did not want our local rivals to win the title again.

"I'm not saying that we lost on purpose but our resistance was limited to the minimum," he added.

"If it's true, then it's really bad," said Zeljko Perusic, who was a TSV 1860 player then.

"I have always regarded Franz as a gentleman," Perusic told Wednesday's Munich daily Abendzeitung. "If it had been the other way round, we would have done everything to help Bayern win the title."

Dieter Brenninger, who played alongside Beckenbauer in the Bayern defence in the 1966-67 season, said he did not share the great libero's analysis.

"We were 5-0 down and we gave it everything to reduce the arrears, because losing by more than three goals was not good for the club's image," he said.

"Things did not go our way but we certainly did not lose on purpose."