Corruption &
sport
http://www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/54972
Fifa to publish graft report
Writer: Reuters and Online Reporters
MARRAKECH
— Fifa's executive committee has voted to allow publication of an investigative
report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, president
Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
However,
football's governing body would not reopen bids for the two tournaments,
Blatter insisted.
Fifa
has been under increasing pressure to publish a redacted version of the report
by former ethics investigator Michael Garcia to help shed light on what
happened during the turbulent process for the tournaments awarded to Russia and
Qatar respectively.
Fifa
said in a statement that it had asked the Adjudicatory Chamber of the
Independent Ethics Committee to publish the report in "an appropriate
form" once ongoing procedures against individuals are concluded.
"I
am pleased they have agreed. It has been a long process to arrive at this point
and I understand the views of those who have been critical," Blatter said.
"We
have always been determined that the truth should be known. That is, after all,
why we set up an independent Ethics Committee with an investigatory chamber
that has all necessary means to undertake investigations on its own
initiative."
The
decision followed a presentation by Domenico Scala, head of Fifa's audit and
compliance committee and one of only six people to have seen the report.
Garcia,
who said himself that the report should be published, spent 18 months
investigating allegations of corruption in the bidding process, during which he
interviewed 75 witnesses.
In
November, Fifa's ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert issued a 42-page summary
based on Garcia's report which identified cases of "inappropriate
conduct" in a number of the bids but said there was not enough evidence to
justify reopening the bidding process.
Among
the figures alleged to have been involved in irregularities is Fifa executive
committee member Worawi Makudi of Thailand.
Five
officials, including three Fifa executive committee members, are being
investigated in the corruption probe into the bidding contests for the 2018 and
2022 World Cups.
"I
am innocent and will sue all parties which cause damage to my reputation,"
the Football Association of Thailand chief said last month.
The Telegraph in London has
reported that Worawi could be investigated over his alleged involvement in a
gas deal between Thailand’s PTT Plc and Qatar shortly before the vote in 2010.
"This
is an old issue. I have already cleared up all allegations," Worawi said.
Qatargas
in 2012 signed a deal with PTT to deliver two million tonnes of liquefied
natural gas to Thailand. The contract had nothing to with Worawi, PTT said.
Worawi
was also accused in Parliament in Britain to have sought favours from England's
failed 2018 bid. He denied the claims, which a Fifa ethics panel dismissed in
2011 before Garcia and Eckert were appointed.
In
Friday's statement, Blatter reiterated that the bidding process for the
awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups would not be reopened.
"We
will not revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote and a report by independent, external
legal experts commissioned by Mr Scala supports the view that there are no
legal grounds to revoke the Executive Committee's decision on the award of the
2018 and 2022 World Cups," he said.
Garcia,
who immediately appealed against the summary of his investigation, saying it
contained misrepresentations, resigned on Wednesday, one day after a Fifa
tribunal ruled his application to be inadmissable.
Fifa
had previously said it could not publich the 430-page report for legal reasons.
No comments:
Post a Comment