"The secret report on 430 pages provocatively reveals the veil over the undoubtedly reprehensible behavior of some of the top functionaries of world football and other individuals who willingly carried out any of their demands," writes The New York Times journalist Andrew Ke and explains: it is a question of the so-called " Garcia's report, "a document published by FIFA on Tuesday, after the Ethics Committee had kept it a secret for more than two years.
"The publication first confirmed, and in some cases disclosed the long-awaited details of the investigation of how the bidding process proceeded in the case of the World Cup in football in 2018 and 2022," - says the author. FIFA announced that it publishes Garcia's report "in the name of transparency". "However, it is noteworthy," Ke comments, "that FIFA did this only after a German newspaper on Monday announced that it had a copy of the report and plans to gradually disclose its ugly details".
"The report was presented in 2014 by Michael J.. Garcia, a retired US prosecutor who was the head of the FIFA Ethics Committee's investigation chamber, "the correspondent writes.. In it, Garcia outlined the findings of his vote verification, which took place in December 2010 and made the host country the World Cup 2018 Russia, and FM 2022 - Qatar.
"What ultimately did not appear in Garcia's report is that there is no solid evidence that the application committees of Russia and Qatar have the right to host the World Cup thanks to bribes. There are no obvious evidence that could force FIFA to think about transferring any of these championships to another country or about re-accepting applications for them, "reads the article.
And yet Garcia's report outlines the voting process, which was marked by deep flaws, the author believes, retelling several of his conclusions.
"Although there were no direct evidence of the purchase of votes allegedly led by Qatar's bid committee, Garcia documented on dozens of pages his concern over the alarming closeness of the Qatari government and its bid committee, as well as the improper behavior of consultants who hoped to push through the application," reads the article.
"In the months before the 2010 vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin, then prime minister, met with half a dozen FIFA electors. But from the application committee of Russia all suspicions of any violations were dropped: the author of the report did not find evidence of collusion with other bidding committees, no violations of the rules concerning gifts, or signs that the Russians were trying to influence any of the electors, " - the author.
"Garcia described in detail how members of the FIFA executive committee and other interested persons ignored his questions or responded to them with attacks, claimed that they did not know the basic things or otherwise refused to facilitate the investigation.
His general dissatisfaction revealed the boundaries of his powers in the investigation: Garcia had no right to call someone with summons, although the check revealed the facts of direct or indirect services that were in return for votes: the construction of a football field in the elector's home country, transatlantic flights on private planes, And also - an example memorable - the transfer of $ 2 million to the account of the 10-year-old daughter of one of the FIFA electors,.