Beckenbauer: I won’t go to Brazil during FIFA ban

By: 10 years ago

The Aug. 1, 2010 file photo shows FIFA president Sepp Blatter and German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, from left, on the tribune during the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup final soccer match between Germany and Nigeria in Bielefeld, Germany. Beckenbauer has been banned from football duty for 90 days for snubbing an investigation into Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid. FIFA said Friday, June 13, 2014 the 90-day provisional ban was requested by ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia. Beckenbauer was a voting member of FIFA’s executive committee in December 2010 when it chose Qatar, and Russia as 2018 World Cup host. AP

RIO DE JANEIRO — Franz Beckenbauer won’t go to the World Cup in Brazil after being suspended by FIFA for refusing to cooperate with a corruption investigation.

“I presume I’m no longer welcome at FIFA,” the German football great told Bild newspaper.

FIFA confirmed Saturday that Beckenbauer, who captained and coached West Germany to win World Cups, is barred from attending matches during his 90-ban.

Beckenbauer is also barred from official duty as Bayern Munich’s global ambassador and as a special adviser to FIFA’s football committee.

FIFA’s ethics committee suspended Beckenbauer on Friday for declining to help prosecutor Michael Garcia’s probe of alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes. The case against him for non-cooperation is being investigated by a member of Garcia’s ethics panel.

Beckenbauer was a voter on FIFA’s board when it chose Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts in December 2010.

He refused “repeated requests for his assistance, including requests that he provide information during an in-person interview or in response to written questions provided in both English and German,” FIFA said Friday.

In a statement on Saturday, FIFA’s deputy ethics judge Alan Sullivan clarified the terms of Beckenbauer’s ban from “any football-related activity.”

It includes “among other things, being invited to attend or attending on a private basis any football match in any capacity,” said Sullivan, an Australian sports lawyer.

Beckenbauer can continue to work in Germany for the Sky Deutschland television network.

“When he is doing something in Munich in the studio, that should not be covered by” the ban, FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said at a daily World Cup news conference.

Beckenbauer served on the FIFA board from 2007-11 after leading Germany’s organization of the 2006 World Cup.

Garcia, a former U.S. Attorney, has said that next month he will deliver a dossier on the World Cup case, which FIFA critics hope will order a revote.

Beckenbauer is the first football official to be sanctioned as a result of Garcia’s World Cup investigation.