FIFA’s two ethics chiefs will hold talks in the next few days after the investigation into World Cup bidding descended into a shambles.
FIFA has confirmed it has received notification from ethics investigator Michael Garcia of his intention to challenge the decision to clear Qatar and Russia to host the 2022 and 2018 World Cups.
German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, the ethics adjudicator who had made the decision that there was no reason to re-run the bidding, said he would meet US lawyer Garcia for talks.
Eckert said: “Michael J. Garcia and I decided to meet in the coming days. More information will be provided in due time,” he said.
Eckert’s findings also criticised England 2018 for its relationship with disgraced former FIFA executive member Jack Warner.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore insisted it was “grossly unfair” for England to have borne the brunt of criticism.
“It tells you a little bit about international football politics that the people who were singled out for most criticism in the report were the English. I think that’s probably grossly unfair,” he said.
Scudamore was in the England 2018 bid delegation that attended the vote in December 2010.
He added: “The Garcia report should be out there in full, it’s the only way that we are in any way going to be able to move on really.”
Pressure has been growing on FIFA to publish Garcia’s report in full.
The president of the German Football League, Reinhard Rauball, has added his voice to those de-manding the publication, and suggested that UEFA should consider withdrawing from FIFA if the matter is not handled properly.
Rauball told Kicker magazine that the conflict between Garcia and Eckert over the report is having huge ramifications.
“The result was a breakdown in communication, and it has shaken the foundations of FIFA in a way I’ve never experienced before,” he said.
“As a solution, two things must happen: not only must the decision of the ethics committee be published, but Mr Garcia’s bill of indictment too, so it becomes clear what the charges were and how they were judged.
“If this doesn’t happen and the crisis is not resolved in a credible manner, you have to entertain the question of whether you are actually still in good hands with FIFA.”
Asked how UEFA should res-pond if FIFA does not publish the report, Rauball added: “One option that would have to bear serious consideration is certainly that UEFA leaves FIFA.”