Daily Times

ZURICH: Former German football association (DFB) chief Wolfgang Niersbach faces a possible two-year ban from soccer following an investigation by FIFA into alleged irregularities over the awarding of the 2006 World Cup. Niersbach, who still sits on the world football body’s Council, resigned from the DFB presidency in November after he was unable to explain a 6.7 million euro (£5.16 million) payment from the German World Cup organisers to FIFA. On Friday a report from the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee-an independent body-found Niersbach had violated of its ethics code and recommended he be banned for two years from all football-related activity and fined 30,000 Swiss francs (£20,802). Niersbach has denied all wrongdoing. The committee’s adjudicatory chamber said it had opened formal proceedings against Niersbach – who was a vice president of the 2006 organising committee – following the investigatory chamber’s recommendation. Niersbach is also under investigation by the Frankfurt prosecutor for suspected tax evasion over the payment to FIFA.