FRANKFURT, Germany — Wolfgang Niersbach, a member of FIFA’s governing council, will appeal his one-year ban over Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid.
Niersbach tells the German dpa news agency that “after consulting with my lawyers I am going to appeal.”
FIFA’s ethics committee found Niersbach guilty of failing to report findings about possible unethical conduct and conflicts of interest during the bidding process.
Niersbach, a vice president of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee in charge of media and marketing, described the punishment as “excessive.”
He retained his elected positions on the top decision-making bodies at both FIFA and UEFA, despite resigning as German federation president in November.