FIFA on Friday said that it would release a redacted version of the 430-page report compiled by Michael Garcia, the former chief investigator for the governing body of soccer’s ethics committee, who spent more than a year digging into allegations of corruption in the World Cup bidding process.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced the decision at a news conference in Morocco, at which he also said that the 2018 World Cup would take place in Russia as planned and that the 2022 event would remain in Qatar because there were no legal grounds for a revote.
“We will not revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote,” he said of the 2010 balloting.
Nearly half of the 22 voters involved in that vote left FIFA in subsequent years, many of them under suspicion of corruption.
“It would really need an earthquake, extremely important new elements, to go back on this World Cup in Qatar,” Blatter said.
The report will be redacted to protect privacy and will not be released until it can be ensured that the investigations into some of the individuals found to have committed ethics violations have been closed.
There has been speculation that Blatter has attempted to keep details of Garcia’s report from becoming public until after several key dates next year:
‧ Nominations are due next month for anyone hoping to oppose Blatter in the next election for FIFA’s presidency.
‧ In March, the executive committee is set to vote on when the Qatar World Cup will be held (a November-December schedule is most likely).
‧ The election for FIFA’s presidency is scheduled for May, with Blatter a virtual lock for his fifth four-year term.
If there is anything connecting Blatter to inappropriate behavior in the Garcia report, it will have little consequence if the report is not seen until after Blatter has won another term.
UEFA president Michel Platini, the head of European soccer’s governing body and an outspoken opponent of Blatter’s on a number of issues, called for a quick release of the report.
“I have always battled for transparency, and this is a step in the right direction,” Platini said. “Let us hope that the report can now be published as quickly as possible. The credibility of FIFA depends on it.”
Garcia resigned from his position on Wednesday after conflicts with Hans-Joachim Eckert, the German judge who was his judiciary counterpart on the ethics committee.
He cited a lack of leadership from FIFA in matters of good governance and reform, which was seen as a criticism of Blatter.
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