Qatar will reportedly be "cleared of corruption" during the 2022 World Cup bidding process when a FIFA report is published on Thursday, according to Conway & Roan of the BBC. It was alleged that Qatar won the staging rights after FIFA officials were paid £3M to "support its bid." FIFA Independent Ethics Adjudicator Hans-Joachim Eckert, however, "is not expected to recommend a revote." Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup in '10, beating bids from Australia, the U.S., South Korea and Japan. The decision eventually led to a "number of corruption allegations." Qatar's bid committee "always denied these, but an inquiry was
started, headed by independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia." Garcia submitted a 430-page report to Eckert in September. After studying Garcia's findings, Eckert, a German
judge, "produced a 42-page summary, which will be published" on Thursday
at 9am local time. The report has "not only cleared Qatar, but is believed
to admonish" the FA for its behavior during
the bidding process. A senior FA source told the BBC that it will "take stock of the report once it is published before commenting officially." It is "understood that the FA believes it was fully
compliant with Garcia's investigation and thinks any transgressions that
are contained in the report will be relatively minor" (
BBC, 11/12). In London, Charles Sale wrote "there are understood to be at least two significant references to England breaking the bidding regulations" in the report. Both of those references relate to the Brits' attempt to "woo" former FIFA ExCo member Jack Warner. One reference involves a gala dinner England sponsored in Trinidad and the other involves England hosting a training camp for the U20 Trinidad and Tobago team that had "links with Warner." An FA spokesman said, "We strongly refute any suggestion of impropriety by those involved in the England bid" (
DAILY MAIL, 11/12).
