FIFA rejects Wolfgang Niersbach appeal against one-year ban in bribery case

The former president of the German federation (DFB) has lost his appeal against a one-year ban from the game in a case related to Germany's controversial but successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Wolfgang Niersbach, who resigned as DFB boss last year, was found guilty of failing to report allegations of bribery in the bidding process and conflicts of interest by FIFA's ethics committee in July.

The 66-year-old appealed against the one-year sanction he was given but a FIFA appeal panel, chaired by Bermuda's Larry Mussenden, has rejected his case.

A FIFA statement said: "The a ppeal committee, after analysing and taking into consideration all mitigating circumstances in the case, considered that Mr Niersbach's conduct constituted a violation of article 18 (duty of disclosure, co-operation and reporting) and article 19 (conflicts of interest) of the FIFA code of ethics."

The statement added that the appeal committee agreed a one-year ban from taking part in any football-related activity "was adequate in this case".

Niersbach, who was vice-president of the 2006 World Cup's organising committee, has repeatedly protested his innocence.

The allegations against Germany's 2006 bid are based on a £5.6million payment the DFB made to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the former boss of sportswear manufacturer adidas. This payment is claimed to be the return of a loan Dreyfus provided for bribing FIFA voters in 2000, when Germany beat South Africa's bid by 12 votes to 11.