(ATR) FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has reiterated his call for Michael Garcia’s report on allegations of World Cup bidding corruption to be made public.
Several FIFA ExCo members – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, Northern Ireland’s Jim Boyce and head of U.S. Soccer Sunil Gulati – have demanded the FIFA investigator’s 430-page report be published. Garcia yesterday added to the chorus of voices saying it was in the best interests of FIFA for it to be released, going against FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert’s wishes.
Champagne told Around the Rings he had been saying consistently and constantly since April: "We need to know".
"It is essential to protect the sanctity of the World Cup as a celebration of football and of our universality," the French former FIFA deputy general tweeted today.
"It will contribute to the efforts to reconcile FIFA with the football lovers around the globe."
On Wednesday, Garcia broke ranks over FIFA's plans to bury the entire report, aside from the federation possibly issuing a summary.
"Given the limited role Mr. Hans-Joachim Eckert envisions for the [FIFA ethics] adjudicatory chamber, I believe it is now necessary for the FIFA Executive Committee to authorize the appropriate publication of the report on the inquiry into the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process," the former US attorney said in a statement.
"Publication would be consistent with statements made by a number of executive committee members, with the view recently expressed by Independent Governance Committee chair Mark Pieth, and with the goals of the reform process."
Pieth quit the IGC bemused and critical of FIFA's failure to implement some of his committee’s key recommendations for reform.
After an 18-month investigation, Garcia’s patience with the process also appears to be rapidly running out. His statement seems a thinly-veiled warning that he may be forced to quit his independent ethics role if his report is blocked from seeing the light of day.
Eckert of Germany is currently examining Garcia’s initial report on claims of bribery and wrongdoing in the 2018/2022 bidding process.
The New York-based lawyer is required to do more work before Eckert makes final decisions on possible punishments to ExCo members and other individuals involved in the bidding contest in the spring. Garcia's further involvement could be jeopardised unless FIFA decides quickly to make the World Cup bidding report public.
The FIFA ExCo may bow to pressure to make public Garcia's report. The governing body's stance will become clearer when Sepp Blatter speaks at a press conference on Friday.
Reported byMark Bisson
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