Ex-spy boss to head German soccer ethics

Klaus Kinkel, a former spy chief and later Germany's justice and foreign minister, has been named the president of the newly created ethics commission of the German soccer federation.

Kinkel was elected at a federation congress in the eastern city of Erfurt.

The commission is part of the DFB's declared drive for more transparency and integrity in an organisation still reeling from the fallout of a financial scandal around the 2006 World Cup it hosted.

The congress also extended the mandate of DFB president Reinhard Grindel until 2019.

Kinkel served as the head of West Germany's intelligence agency from 1978-82 and became the justice minister of a newly reunited Germany in 1991.

He also served as foreign minister after the sudden resignation of his political mentor, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, in 1992.

Kinkel turns 80 in December.