FIFA has announced that Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer has been issued with a fine and a warning for his initial failure to cooperate with the Garcia Report into corruption within football.
FIFA had said in October that it was investigating Beckenbauer over "non-cooperation" with the governing body's then chief ethics investigator Michael Garcia.
Beckenbauer, a World Cup Cup winner with West Germany as both a player in 1974 and as a coach in 1990, was a member of the FIFA executive committee at the time of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes in 2010. The 70-year-old was suspended for 90 days in 2014 when he failed to answer questions for Garcia's report into the bidding process for those tournaments.
The ban was lifted after two weeks when the Bayern Munich and Germany legend answered the questions.
The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's Ethics Committee has now announced that Beckenbauer will be fined 7,000 Swiss francs ($7,050) for his initial refusal to cooperate. The ruling is unrelated to the investigation into Beckenbauer's alleged role in the 2006 World Cup bid controversy, for which he faces legal proceedings from the German FA.
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FIFA's statement read: "The adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee chaired by Jack Kariko has imposed a sanction of a warning and fine on football official Franz Beckenbauer. The sanction comes into force immediately.
"The decision was made based on investigations carried out by the chief of investigation, Vanessa Allard, member of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee.
"In the present case, Mr Beckenbauer failed to cooperate with an Ethics Committee investigation conducted by the then chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee regarding the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bids despite repeated requests for his assistance.
"This included requests to provide information during an in-person interview and in response to written questions presented in both English and German. Mr Beckenbauer thus did not behave in accordance with the general rules of conduct applicable to football officials in the context of the investigations, thereby violating article 13 of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE).
"In addition, the adjudicatory chamber found Mr Beckenbauer to have violated article 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting) and article 42 (General obligation to collaborate) of the FCE.
"The present case did not look into the matters related to the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup to Germany.
"As Mr Beckenbauer subsequently demonstrated a willingness to cooperate, he has been sanctioned with a warning and fine of CHF 7,000. Mr Beckenbauer had been previously provisionally banned for some time in regard to the present case."