The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee chaired by Alan Sullivan has banned Wolfgang Niersbach, former President of the German Football Association (DFB) and Vice-President of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) and current member of the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, for 1 year from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) on a national and international level. The ban comes into force immediately.
The investigation against Mr Niersbach was conducted by Dr Cornel Borbély, chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, which resulted in a final report being submitted to the adjudicatory chamber on 22 April 2016. Adjudicatory proceedings were formally opened on 20 May 2016.
The adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Niersbach failed to report findings about possible misconduct concerning the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, including potential breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE). However, the present case did not look into possible breaches of the FCE in relation to possible acts of bribery and/or corruption with regards to the award of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, but only evaluated Mr Niersbach’s awareness of the said incidents and his failure to report them to the Ethics Committee in a timely manner.
The Ethics Committee found that the conduct of Mr Niersbach as former President of the DFB and Vice-President of the 2006 FIFA World Cup LOC and current member of the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee constituted a violation of article 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting) and article 19 (Conflicts of interest) of the FCE.
In consequence, Mr Niersbach has been banned for 1 year from all football‑related activities and shall bear the costs of the proceedings.