FIFA ethics committee clears German football president in pay probe

DPA ©

President of the German Football Association (DFB) Wolfgang Niersbach Frankfurt (dpa) - German Football Federation (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach has been cleared by FIFA of any ethics violations in connection with his pay and pension. It follows a complaint filed by FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger, Niersbach's predecessor as DFB president. A statement Friday by football's world governing body said a preliminary investigation by the FIFA ethics committee "determined that no provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics had been violated in the case in question." The ethics committee had examined Niersbach's pension income and remuneration arrangements as requested by Zwanziger on February 10, the statement said. As a result of the investigation "the investigatory chamber has accordingly closed its file on the matter," it said. Niersbach has been president of the German federation since Zwanziger stepped down from the post after eight years in 2012. He is seeking to replace Zwanziger on the FIFA executive committee when Zwanziger stands down on May 29 at the FIFA congress. Nierbach is expected to win the backing of the UEFA congress which meets on March 24 in Vienna. The DFB in June had called on Zwanziger to resign from FIFA's executive committee after he had questioned Niersbach's earnings. In a statement at the time the DFB said Zwanziger had made "clearly personally motivated and completely untenable statements" regarding Niersbach.