GENEVA: FIFA’s ethics committee on Monday banned Wolfgang Niersbach, former president of the German Football Association, for one year over misconduct surrounding the country’s successful 2006 World Cup bid. “Niersbach has been banned for one year from all football-related activities,” a statement from FIFA’s in-house court said, citing his awareness that bribes may have been paid during the bidding and his failure to report them to the Ethics Committee in a timely manner.