FIFA has announced that former German FA president Wolfgang Niersbach has been hit with a one-year ban from all football-related activity following his role in the 2006 World Cup-bidding process.
Niersbach is alleged to have been aware of a bribe that resulted in FIFA receiving a £4.9m payment in exchange for votes.
The governing body's ethics chief Dr Cornel Borbely conducted the investigation into Niersbach, and it was concluded that the FIFA executive committee member should be issued with a 12-month ban.
A statement from the independent ethics committee read: "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."
Niersbach stepped down from his role with the German FA last November.
Danielle Joynson
