Beckenbauer had been handed a 90-day suspension by FIFA for failing to cooperate with Michael Garcia on his investigations into corruption allegations surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

The German, who led his nation to World Cup success both as a player and a coach and organised the tournament in 2006, has had this ban lifted with immediate effect, his manager Marcus Höfl said in a statement posted via his Twitter feed today.

Following the ban, implemented on June 13, Beckenbauer said he was "surprised" by the decision, insisting that he was sent questions only in complex English and was refused the opportunity to discuss the matter in his native German.

On June 18, Höfl said in a statement that that the FIFA Ethics Committee received his answers to "all its questions".

"I under-estimated the matter,'' Beckenbauer said in the statement released by Hoefl, blaming the fact that "such voluminous administrative things'' are usually dealt with by his management team.

He added that, despite the lifting of the ban, Beckenbauer will not be travelling to the World Cup taking place in Brazil.

Franz Beckenbauer's manager Marcus Höfl announced via twitter that the German's 90-day ban had been lifted by FIFA ©Twitter



On the matter, FIFA issued a statement on its website stating: "The decision to provisionally ban Franz Beckenbauer was revoked today by the deputy chairman of the independent Ethics Committee's adjudicatory chamber, Alan Sullivan QC.

"Having received the appropriate submissions, Alan Sullivan QC considered that it was appropriate at the time to impose provisional measures.

"However, Sullivan QC, considering that a breach of the FIFA Code Ethics appeared to have been committed, concluded that all the conditions for the imposition of provisional measures were no longer fulfilled.

"The deputy chairman warned Mr Beckenbauer that a repetition or continuation of the conduct that led to the imposition of the provisional measure might give rise to further sanctions, including new provisional measures.

"The investigation proceedings opened by Mr Michael J. Garcia and conducted by Vanessa Allard, which will determine whether Mr Beckenbauer violated provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics, are on-going."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2014: Beckenbauer to answer FIFA corruption questions this month
June 2014: Beckenbauer to miss Brazil World Cup after being banned by FIFA
June 2014: Beckenbauer banned by FIFA for refusal to cooperate with corruption probe