|
FIFA's ethics committee adjudicatory chamber has recommended a two-year ban from all football related activities for Wolfgang Niersbach, the former president of the German Football Association (DFB). Niersbach, who is a current member of the FIFA Council and the UEFA executive committee, resigned in the wake of the 2006 World Cup scandal in November after allegations first published by German news weekly Der Spiegel in mid-October. The paper reported that the German World Cup bid committee had set up a slush fund to secure the votes of the four Asian members of the FIFA Executive Committee for the right to host the 2006 tournament. The DFB headquarters and Niersbach's private property were raided by dozens of tax investigators and members of the Frankfurt prosecution service over alleged tax fraud concerning a 2002 payment to FIFA for €6.7 million. Niersbach has denied the claims and insisted that the €6.7m, which allegedly was paid by the late former adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus, was used to release a grant of €170m for the organisation of the tournament. A statement read: "The investigations concerning Mr Niersbach conducted by Dr Cornel Borbely, chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, were opened on 22 March 2016 and the final report was passed to the adjudicatory chamber on 22 April 2016. "In its final report, the investigatory chamber recommends a sanction of a two-year ban from all football-related activity and a fine of CHF 30,000 for violations of arts 13, 15, 18, and 19 of the FIFA Code of Ethics. "Under its deputy chairman Mr Alan Sullivan, the adjudicatory chamber has studied the report of the investigatory chamber carefully and decided to institute formal adjudicatory proceedings against Mr Niersbach. In the course of the proceedings, Mr Niersbach will be invited to submit his position including any evidence with regard to the final report of the investigatory chamber (art. 70 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics) and may request a hearing (art. 74 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics). "For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish further details at the present time.
|
