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FIFA has decided to release the World Cup bidding corruption report in full after the Executive Committee voted unanimously to make the document public.
The announcement comes in the wake of FIFA’s independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia quitting his role in protest over the handling of his 430-page report after citing a “lack of leadership” at the most senior levels of the Swiss-based organisation and the production of a 42-page summary by chief judge Hans-Joachim Eckert which Garcia claimed contained “numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of facts and conclusions”.
In Marrakesh today, the FIFA ExCo was given a presentation by Domenico Scala, the head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, who suggested the report be published “where legally possible” and “with appropriate redactions.”
However, it was also confirmed that the release would not take place until other FIFA investigations into the process are complete.
The move is a significant change in policy for FIFA after its President Sepp Blatter and chief judge Eckert originally announced that publishing the report would not be legally possible.
Article by Hugo Lowell