FIFA lifts 90-ban on German legend Franz Beckenbauer

FIFA has lifted the 90-day ban on football activity that the governing body had imposed on German legend Franz Beckenbauer.

Beckenbauer's manager Marcus Hoefl said that the German legend was told on Friday that his ban had been lifted with immediate effect.

According to the BBC, Beckenbauer had been banned for failing to help an inquiry into alleged corruption in the 2018 Russia and 2022 Qatar World Cup bids. The 68-year-old was part of the FIFA executive committee that made the awards.

Beckenbauer, who lifted the World Cup as both a player in 1974 and manger in 1990, said in a statement that he under-estimated the matter, blaming the fact that such voluminous administrative things are usually dealt with by his management team.

Hoefl said that despite the lifting of the ban, Beckenbauer would not be travelling to the World Cup taking place in Brazil.

Beckenbauer had been asked to co-operate with a FIFA ethics investigation led by American lawyer Michael Garcia, but the governing body said that the German had ignored repeated requests to assist the inquiry.

Beckenbauer, who is now honorary president at Bayern Munich, had maintained that he was sent questions only in complex English and was refused the opportunity to discuss the matter in his native German.