FIFA has claimed that it cannot "legally" publish the report into "alleged corruption during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups," according to James Masters of the LONDON TIMES. In a "bizarre attempt to quell dissatisfaction," FIFA "conducted its own interview with Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory wing of the ethics committee." Eckert insisted that FIFA's stance on "not publishing the whole report remains correct, with only his findings set to be made public." Eckert: "Publishing the report in full would actually put the FIFA ethics committee and FIFA itself in a very difficult situation legally." Eckert said that he will "deliver a statement by the middle of next month which will contain 'an overview of the investigation report, a summary of the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report, as well as a brief evaluation of the same.'" Garcia spent 18 months "examining 200,000 pages of evidence before compiling a 360-page report into the bidding process for the tournaments awarded to Russia and Qatar" (LONDON TIMES, 10/18). In London, Owen Gibson reported Garcia and several members of the FIFA exec committee have "called for it to be published in full, with names redacted to protect whistleblowers," in order to help restore FIFA's battered credibility. Eckert said that because those interviewed had been "promised confidentiality it would be all but impossible to publish the report in full." Eckert, who has been "under pressure to clarify his position, said in September that his own judgment based on Garcia's investigation, likely to be delivered early next year, would not go down well" with many at FIFA. He said, "Many won’t like what I am going to tell them" (GUARDIAN, 10/17).
