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Football chief resigns over FIFA payment

Frankfurt - German football federation (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach has resigned over a payment made to football world governing body FIFA linked to the 2006 World Cup.

Niersbach said after a meeting of the DFB board he took responsibility in the affair for a payment made by Germany's 2006 World Cup organizing committee of $7.4 million to FIFA.

Prosecuting authorities have launched a tax evasion investigation into Niersbach, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger and former DFB secretary general Horst R Schmidt around the payment made in 2005.

"I have recognized the time has come to take the political responsibility for events around the 2006 World Cup," Niersbach said.

Niersbach, 64, was a vice-president of Germany's organizing committee for the 2006 World Cup and was appointed DFB secretary general in October 2007. He succeeded Zwanziger as the federation's president on March 2, 2012.

 

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