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Sepp Blatter
announcing Qatar as the hosts of the 2022 World Cup back in 2010
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A
summary of the findings of the report by the FIFA ethics committee's
investigation released on Thursday regarding the conduct of the bids for the
2018/2022 World Cups.
Reuters reports on the FIFA Ethics Committee statement:
AUSTRALIA
The
report pointed to "potentially problematic connections between financial
and other support for 'football development' and the bidding process."
It
said the requests, and Australia's co-operation, "helped create the
appearance that benefits were conferred in exchange for a vote thus undermining
the credibility of the process."
"Moreover,
the report identified certain payments from the Football Federation of
Australia (FFA) to CONCACAF which...appear to have been co-mingled, at least in
part, with personal funds of the then CONCACAF President who at the time also
was a FIFA Executive Committee member."
The
report concluded that "there are certain indications of potentially
problematic conduct of specific individuals in the light of relevant FIFA
Ethics rules."
BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
The
report "did not identify any issues with regard to the Belgium/Holland
2018 bid."
ENGLAND
The
England bid team were heavily criticized for indulging the then FIFA executive
committee member Jack Warner.
This
included sponsoring a gala dinner in his native Trinidad and helping an
acquaintance find part-time employment in the United Kingdom. Warner also
requested benefits for Joe Public, a football club he owned in Trinidad, and
the country's football federation.
It
added that "three of the four FIFA Executive Committee members made
improper requests for support or favours towards the England 2018 bid team
and/or the FA during the bidding process.
"With
regard to at least two of these committee members, England 2018 accommodated,
or at least attempted to satisfy, the improper requests."
It
said there was "potentially problematic conduct" by individuals which
could lead to further investigation.
JAPAN
Distributed
gifts to senior FIFA officials, members of the executive committee and some of
their wives. The value varied from US$700 to US$2,000 each.
The
executive committee members denied receiving improper gifts and their
explanations and perceptions were "troubling", the report said.
The
report concluded that any problems "were not even remotely suited to
compromise the integrity of the FIFA World Cup 2018/2022 bidding process as a
whole."
SOUTH KOREA
The
report said that Mong-Joon Chung, a FIFA executive committee member and
honorary president of the Korean FA, had sent letters to his fellow members
about a proposal to establish a global football fund.
He
said South Korea intended to raise US$777 million to aid confederations and
national associations.
The
report concluded that "the Global Football Fund letters created at least
the appearance of a conflict or an offer of benefits to FIFA Executive
Committee members in an effort to influence their votes."
It
concluded that there was a "potentially problematic conduct of specific
individuals."
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On the ball: FIFA's
chief investigator Michael J Garcia has been praised for preventing a breach of
its ethical code Photo: AFP
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QATAR
The
report criticized a lack of transparency in the relations between the Qatar bid
team and two advisors, whose conduct "raised concerns in the light of
relevant FIFA ethics rules."
The
report said the financing of a friendly between Brazil and Argentina, played in
Doha in 2010, raised concerns under relevant ethics rules "in particular
in relation to certain arrangements concerning payments intended for the
Argentina Football Association.
"However,
the relevant arrangements were not connected to the Qatar 2022 bid."
The
report said that Qatar's sponsorship of the Confederation of African Football
(CAF) Congress in Angola in 2010, at an estimated cost of US$1.8 million,
created a "negative impression."
The
report said the relationship between the Qatar bid and former FIFA executive
committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam, a fellow Qatari who was banned for life in
2011 in a cash-for-votes scandal, was "somewhat distant".
RUSSIA
Russia
made a "limited amount" of documents available to the investigation
because "the computers used at the time by the Russia bid Committee had
been leased and then returned to their owner after the Bidding Process. The
owner has confirmed that the computers were destroyed in the meantime."
The
report said Russia attempted to obtain access to the Gmail accounts used during
the bidding process from Google USA. "However, the Russia Bid Committee
confirmed in a letter dated 1 August 2014 that Google USA had not responded
request."
The
report said no evidence was found of colluding between the Russia and Japan
bids.
The
investigation "considered the evidence available as not sufficient to
support any findings of misconduct by the Russia 2018 bid team or any
individual involved with it suited to compromise the integrity of the FIFA
World Cup 2018/2022 bidding process.
SPAIN/PORTUGAL
The
report did not mention the Spain/Portugal bid.
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