FIFA Lodge Criminal Complaint Over World Cup Bidding

FIFA has lodged a criminal complaint to the Swiss attorney general regarding individuals involved in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.

On the advice of FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert FIFA President Sepp has decided to file the complaint.

Blatter stated however that this will not have any bearing on the statements made by Eckert last week in relation to Michael Garcia’s 42-page report into the World Cup bidding process, as he insists the bidding process is concluded.  

A FIFA statement said: “The subject of the criminal complaint is the possible misconduct of individual persons in connection with the awarding of the hosting rights of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups investigated by Michael Garcia, chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Fifa ethics committee.

“In particular there seem to be grounds for suspicion that, in isolated cases, international transfers of assets with connections to Switzerland took place, which merit examination by the criminal prosecution authorities.”

The Garcia report will be handed to the attorney general’s office by Eckert but he, along with Blatter maintains that the report cannot be published.

Blatter told FIFA’s website: “There is no change to Judge Eckert’s statement that the investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups is concluded.

“The matter will now also be looked at by an independent, state body, which shows that FIFA is not opposed to transparency.”

When asked about the possible publication of the report, he added: “If FIFA were to publish the report, we would be violating our own association law as well as state law.

“The people who are demanding in the media and elsewhere that Fifa publish the report are obviously of the opinion that FIFA should or must ignore the law in this regard.