The decision comes at the request of the chairman of the FIFA investigatory chamber, Michael Garcia, who has been looking into corruption allegations surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup with West Germany as a player and a coach before successfully securing the hosting rights to the 2006 World Cup as head of the Organising Committee for Germany, refused to support Garcia on the investigation when requested, which, according to FIFA, is the reason for his ban.

"The decision was taken pursuant to the FIFA Code of Ethics article 83 paragraph 1, on the grounds that a breach of the Code of Ethics appears to have been committed and a decision on the main issue may not be taken early enough," a FIFA statement read.

"The apparent breach relates to Mr Beckenbauer's failure to cooperate with an Ethics Committee investigation despite 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."

A Sunday Times investigation into the World Cup bidding scandal claimed, based on a cache of documents in its possession, that Beckenbauer visited Qatar before and after the World Cup vote, on the invitation of Mohamed Bin Hammam, the Qatari Executive Committee member who has since himself been banned by FIFA from football activities for life following corruption allegations.

According to the report, Beckenbauer was invited to Doha in June 2011 along with executives from shipping and energy company ER Capital Holding to talk about a possible cooperation between Qatar and the maritime shipping industry, but no deal had been struck at the time.

Beckenbauer, who in 2010 sat on the FIFA Executive Committee that voted for Qatar to host the World Cup, said he "never worked for Qatar or Bin Hammam", however, the company confirmed to the DPA news agency that the former footballer and coach worked for ER Capital Holding from April 2011 to March 2014 as a consultant and ambassador.

FIFA has said that the case is "now the subject of a formal investigation" which is being led by another member of the ethics committee, Vanessa Allard of Trinidad and Tobago.

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