Wolfgang Niersbach appeal against one-year ban rejected
Friday 16 December 2016 11:30, UK
FIFA has rejected an appeal launched by Wolfgang Niersbach over a one-year ban from football given to him in July.
Niersbach, former president of the German Football Association, was banned by FIFA's ethics committee after an investigation into Germany's 2006 World Cup bid.
The 66-year-old was found guilty of failing to report possible unethical conduct and conflicts of interest during the bidding process.
FIFA's Appeal Committee announced on Friday that the one-year ban should stand.
Niersbach had been a member of FIFA and UEFA's executive committees as well as the FIFA Council and had been tipped as a future UEFA president.
A FIFA statement read: "The Appeal Committee, after analysing and taking into consideration all mitigating circumstances in the case, considered that Mr Niersbach's conduct constituted a violation of article 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting) and article 19 (Conflicts of interest) of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
"Being in agreement with the principles and arguments presented by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee in its calculation of the sanction, the Appeal Committee determined that a one-year ban from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or other) at national and international level was adequate in this case.
"In consequence, Mr Niersbach's ban for a period of one year is maintained as from July 25 2016, in accordance with art. 6 par. 1 h) of the FIFA Code of Ethics and art. 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code."
