The “absolutely incredible” events buffeting FIFA mean world soccer’s governing body must now release the full report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups if it is to rebuild its tarnished image, the man who hopes to become its next president told Reuters yesterday.

FIFA had hoped to draw a line under the controversy when judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, ruling on behalf of FIFA’s ethics committee, said he found no grounds sufficient to re-open the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments in Russia and Qatar.

But within hours, former US attorney Michael Garcia, hired by FIFA to head the investigation into the bids, said he would appeal the committee’s conclusion and that the summary “contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations” of facts and conclusions in his report.

Jerome Champagne, who is to stand against president Sepp Blatter in the election next year, said: “The events that unfolded yesterday were absolutely incredible.

“I was in FIFA for 11 years and have never seen anything like that.

“We need to know what is in the report for two reasons. First we need to protect the World Cup which has a huge impact in the game and is the pinnacle of world football.

“The world is divided and there is one moment every four years when the world comes together for the most popular sport in the world. So we must protect its integrity.

“Secondly, the report needs to be published to start re-building FIFA’s image.