Germany reportedly sent Saudia Arabia a shipment of rocket-propelled grenades in exchange for support of their bid to host the 2006 World Cup, it has emerged.

The allegations are the latest revelations in the widening Fifa scandal, which was sparked by the arrests of seven top Fifa officials in Zurich, Switzerland, as part of a US-led investigation.

Sepp Blatter, who has been Fifa president since 1998, stepped down in the wake of the scandal just days after he was re-elected to serve his fifth term.

According to reports by the Die Zeit newspaper seen by MailOnline, then-Chancellor Gerhard Schroder’s government allegedly complied with a request from the German Football Association to send Saudi Arabia arms, in an attempt to steer the Middle Eastern nation away from backing Morocco in the knife-edge vote in 2000.

The Die Zeit report also claims that German firms, including Volkswagen and Bayer, pledged to up their investments in Thailand and South Korea, with Daimler investing 100m euros (£73m) in South Korean firm Hyundai.

Fifa’s corruption scandal deepened further last night, when it emerged that the international football governing body had paid the Irish Football Association (FAI) €5million to silence complaints about Thierry Henry’s handball. The footballing legend's move was widely regarded as the reason why the country missed out on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Show all 14 1 /14 The Fifa bigwigs facing charges The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Jeffrey Webb, 50, Cayman Iskands A Fifa vice president. His arrest came as a big surprise, as he had been tipped as the man to clean up Fifa once Blatter departs. Webb is also president of Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and the Cayman Islands Football Association Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Costas Takkas, 58, UK A British citizen, Mr Takkas is currently an attache to the Concacaf president. He was previously general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association, of which Mr Webb is president The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Jack Warner, 72, (pictured), Daryan Warner, 46 and Daryll Warner, 40, Trinidad & Tobago The former Fifa vice president and head of Concacaf was a dominant force in football for 30 years, but was suspended from his roles in 2011 amid accusations of corruption dating back to the 1980s and an investigation by Fifa's ethics committee. He later resigned, ending the proceedings against him. Daryan Warner, the son of Jack Warner is also believed to have co-operated with the FBI. He pleaded guiltyin October 2013 to wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and the structuring of financial transactions, forfeiting $1.1m. Daryll Warner, another of Jack Warner's sons, he pleaded guilty to various offences in July 2013. A former Fifa development officer, he lost the job in 2012 after his father's resignation amid corruption allegations. He and his brother both face up to 10 years in prison Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Charles Blazer, 70, USA The former Concacaf general secretary reportedly turned "supergrass" to help the FBI inestigation, using a bugging device hidden inside a key fob to record meetigs with his Fifa colleagues at the London 2012 Olympics. In November 2013 he pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and income tax evasion. Seriously ill with colon cancer Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Rafael Esquivel, 68, Venezuela Executive committee member of the South American Football Confederetion (Conmebol). It is alleged that officials at Conmebol, which organises the Copa America, received bribes from marketing executives Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Eugenio Figueredo, 83, USA/Uruguay The Fifa vice president and executive committee member is a big name in world football, having previously been at the head of Conmebol and the Uruguayan Football Association. A former right-back Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Nicolas Leoz, 86, Paraguay A former Fifa executive committee member and Conmebol president. When he retired in 2013 for health reasons, he said: "I've not stolen so much as a cent" Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Eduardo Li, 56, Costa Rica President of the Costa Rican Football Federation. He was elected to Fifa's executive commitee in March Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges José Maria Marin, 83, Brazil The former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation is also a member of Fifa's committee for Olympic tournaments Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Julio Rocha, 64, Nicaragua Fifa development officer. Previously president of his country's football federation EPA The Fifa bigwigs facing charges José Hawilla, 71, Brazil The owner and founder of the Traffic Group, a sports marketing conglomerate, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy in 2014. Two of his companies - Traffic Sports International Inc and Traffic Sports USA Inc - have also pleaded guilty youtube.com The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Aaron Davidson, 44, USA President of Traffic Sports USA, is a large promoter of football events in America AP The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Alejandro Burzaco, 50, (pictured), Hugo Jinkis, 70 and Mariano Jinkis, 40, Argentina Alejandro Burzaco, a media executive who controls Torneos y Competencias, a sports marketing business. Hugo Jinkis, is the president of Full Play Group, a sports marketing business in Argentina. His son Mariano, is vice president AP The Fifa bigwigs facing charges José Margulies (AKA José Lazaro), 75, Brazil Although he is in broadcasting, it is alleged he served as an intermediary to facilitate illicit payments between sports marketing executives and Fifa officials youtube.com

The beleaguered football governing body disclosed the payment after John Delaney, the head of the FAI, revealed the agreement between himself and outgoing President Sepp Blatter in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE.

German soccer federation president Wolfgang Niersbach responded to the payment to Ireland, and told ZDF television on Friday that the handball “was a real injustice” and accepted the Irish were “outraged.”

But Niersbach said “you cannot compensate it with money and no court would have ruled in their favor.”