DURBAN, South Africa - Former Germany captain and coach Franz Beckenbauer will fly to South Africa to support Munich's bid to host the 2018 winter Olympics.

Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player in 1974 and as Germany coach 16 years later, will arrive in the coastal city of Durban on Tuesday, a day before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announces the winner of the 2018 bid.

Munich is up against South Korea's Pyeongchang and Annecy of France for the right to host the winter games.

Munich bid chief Katarina Witt said Beckenbauer's presence would benefit their campaign.

"Franz is on his way and will arrive tomorrow," Witt told a news conference on Monday.

"He has been part of the board of trustees from the very beginning and naturally we are very happy that he is part of the delegation."

Beckenbauer led Germany's successful bid to host the 2006 soccer World Cup.

Munich and Pyeongchang are considered the frontunners to win the right to host the Games and Witt said she felt that the German city's bid had gained a lot of steam recently.

"I think we have great momentum. It was something we gradually tried to get better and better with presentations to get our message out about what we can offer to the Olympic movement and especially the athletes who will compete in 2018," Witt said.

"I think it (momentum) really picked up after Lausanne, after the technical presentations in May. The 89 IOC members were really able to concentrate on the presentations and we were able to get the points that we wanted to present across."