FIFA Publishes Michael Garcia's Report In Name Of "Transparency"

FIFA today published former U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia's "top-secret report into the bidding" for the '18 and '22 World Cups. The organization said that it was acting "'for the sake of transparency' but also to get ahead of publication of the report's details" by German newspaper Bild. New "disclosures of possible ethics violations in the bidding processes" were "expected to emerge" after Bild revealed it had a copy of the report. Garcia submitted the report in '14 and said he uncovered "serious and wide-ranging issues" in the selection process. Despite "appeals for transparency," the report was not released to the public until now (NYTIMES.com, 6/27).