FIFA under fire after report on Qatar, Russia

GENEVA – A long-awaited day of judgment on World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar turned into another day of FIFA disarray.

Nearly four years after FIFA chose Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the football body’s ethics judge exonerated the two countries of any corruption in their winning bids and cleared them to stage the sport’s showpiece tournament.

The ruling by German judge Joachim Eckert came despite evidence of some improper conduct by eight of the nine bids.

Eckert’s report was denounced by critics as a whitewash and harshly contested by the American prosecutor who led the investigation.

Michael Garcia, the former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said he will appeal Eckert’s decision to close the case, saying it was based on “materially incomplete and erroneous” interpretation of his own findings – 430 pages of investigative work sealed by FIFA from public scrutiny.

A 42-page report released by FIFA and designed to bestow integrity on the next two World Cup hosts had its own ethics attacked. Eckert’s strongest criticism was leveled not at Qatar or Russia but at England’s failed 2018 bid – for aggressively wooing a key FIFA voter.

“I think it’s a bit of a joke … the whole process,” said England’s Football Association chairman Greg Dyke.