NationStates

FIFA have finally released the summary version of the independent report on corruption allegations over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup.

This clears Qatar (2022 hosts) and Russia (2018 hosts) of any wrongdoing, but criticises the English and Australian Football Associations for engaging in improper practices; the English FA is accused of damaging "the image of Fifa and the bidding process" via its interactions with the disgraced Jack Warner.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30031405

The catch?

Michael Garcia, who actually conducted the investigation, is now actively disowning FIFA's official 'summary' of his report, which FIFA still refuse to release in full (and which has reportedly only been seen by 4 people):

Michael Garcia, who headed the investigation, is now having his say on the report (written by the judge Hans-Joachim Eckert).

Michael Garcia says Eckert’s decision “contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts. I intend to appeal this decision to the FIFA Appeal Committee.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/liv ... e-reaction - see at 12:11.

So FIFA, continuing to show an amazing capacity for buggering this up, have managed to put themselves in a position where the individual they asked to conduct the independent investigation is refusing to recognise FIFA's official summary of his findings, and where said individual will launch a formal legal appeal against the official summary of his findings because he's publicly stated that the official summary is wrong.

So two questions:

1) Should FIFA continue to try and stop the release of the full Garcia report?

2) Can FIFA possibly do anything even more incompetent to make this increasingly uncomfortable farce any worse?

The answers, incidentally, are "no" and "oh, probably".


Edit:

There's now more detail on Garcia's dramatic intervention to disown the FIFA summary of his report:

Fifa’s probe into the controversial bidding race for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has taken another twist after its own investigator Michael Garcia complained that a summary of his report that cleared Qatar of substantive wrongdoing misrepresented his conclusions.

Garcia, a former New York district attorney, has spent 18 months investigating the convoluted and controversial World Cup race that ended with the selection of Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022.

But when German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert today closed the investigation after ruling that there was not enough evidence to justify re-opening the process, a furious Garcia said the summary he had published did not reflect his findings.

“Today’s decision by the Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions detailed in the Investigatory Chamber’s report,” said Garcia, who has spent 18 months gathering evidence from the nine bidding nations and interviewed more than 75 witnesses.

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... ics-report

Damnit you beat me to the thread, and with a better title to boot.

I find it incredible that they managed to throw sand in England's eyes during an investigation into not-England. If bin Hammam was "distant" from the Qatari bid, then why was he banned for life by FIFA? If Lord Triesman tried to "woo" Warner, then why hasn't he been banned by FIFA? There's a massive disconnect between the language of this report and FIFA's actions in the surrounding case.

At this point, UEFA nations should seriously consider withdrawing from FIFA. FIFA is beyond saving, IMO.

Sdaeriji wrote:At this point, UEFA nations should seriously consider withdrawing from FIFA. FIFA is beyond saving, IMO.

Not going to happen - UEFA president Michel Platini is far too desperate to be Sepp Blatter's successor.

Also, one of the Qatar bid's main supporters was... Michel Platini. Blatter is widely believed to have voted for the United States.

Platini has admitted voting for Qatar and lobbying for the move to winter, but has insisted that a much scrutinised meeting with the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the now Emir of Qatar and the Qatar prime minister did not result in pressure being put on him. "I knew Sarkozy wanted the people from Qatar to buy PSG," Platini told the Guardian in May. "I understood that Sarkozy supported the candidature of Qatar. But he never asked me, or to vote for Russia [for the 2018 World Cup]. He knows my personality. I always vote for what is good for football. Not for myself, not for France."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... -world-cup


So UEFA are hardly going to withdraw from FIFA here given how heavily implicated the head of UEFA is in the whole Qatar disaster to begin with.


I instead suggest we disband all formal football governing structures and return to grassroots sport; small boys in the park... jumpers for goalposts...

Answers
1) No
2) No (it's as bad as it can get)

FIFA should be deleted and started over again. And one thing bothers me about Qatar - it's a damn desert.

Unfortunately this no longer surprises me. FIFA is rotten to the core and the top guys are about as corrupt as you can get.

Teemant wrote:Answers
1) No
2) No

FIFA should be deleted and started over again. And one thing bothers me about Qatar - it's a damn desert.

What should bother you about Qatar is the slave labor.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/s ... cup-slaves

Even though Qatar is a rich soccer fanatic country, I am afraid they won't be able to prepare adequately enough for the FIFA world cup.

Sdaeriji wrote:

Teemant wrote:Answers
1) No
2) No

FIFA should be deleted and started over again. And one thing bothers me about Qatar - it's a damn desert.

What should bother you about Qatar is the slave labor.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/s ... cup-slaves

I have read about it and it really disturbs me. This last Qatar comment was really meant in addition to all the other problems.

Socialist Tera wrote:Even though Qatar is a rich soccer fanatic country, I am afraid they won't be able to prepare adequately enough for the FIFA world cup.

Quatar's long tradition of honest work and a genuine love for soccer will overcome all odds.

Socialist Tera wrote:Even though Qatar is a rich soccer fanatic country, I am afraid they won't be able to prepare adequately enough for the FIFA world cup.

The main problem for me is the climate. Playing for ninety minutes in even moderately warm climates is hard enough, but Qatar is one of the warmest nations on the planet. Unless they end up playing it in the non-summer months.

Chestaan wrote:

Socialist Tera wrote:Even though Qatar is a rich soccer fanatic country, I am afraid they won't be able to prepare adequately enough for the FIFA world cup.

The main problem for me is the climate. Playing for ninety minutes in even moderately warm climates is hard enough, but Qatar is one of the warmest nations on the planet. Unless they end up playing it in the non-summer months.

They really do want Brazil to win.

Teemant wrote:

Chestaan wrote:
The main problem for me is the climate. Playing for ninety minutes in even moderately warm climates is hard enough, but Qatar is one of the warmest nations on the planet. Unless they end up playing it in the non-summer months.

They really do want Brazil to win.

Brazil couldn't even win in Brazil

John olivier sumed up fifa quite nicely
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJEt2KU33I

I worked in Qatar for the last three months of 2013, running an archaeology project for a European university and - and I'll admit this made me uncomfortable - we were required to use labourers from South Asia and East Africa.

Frankly, I think Qatar is not really capable of hosting the tournament.

This isn't just a matter of human rights, worrying though that is, but also relates to infrastructure and culture.

There's simply nothing to do there that'll keep visitors sufficiently interested and entertained for a month when they're not watching football; the landscape outside of Doha is among the bleakest and least interesting I've ever seen, and Doha is realistically not a large city. Once you've been to the Museum of Islamic Art, the reconstructed souk and the new national museum, you have essentially exhausted the possibilities in Doha that don't involve someone attempting to convert you to Islam. Outside of Doha the options are arguably even more limited aside from the Inland Sea and an archaeology site or two.

The local authorities will have 'fan zones' where drinking will be permitted in the immediate vicinity of the venues (must keep sponsors Budweiser happy), but clearly haven't thought through the implications of having 10,000 happy Germans walking through the centre of Doha in a city where public drunkenness is illegal and results in rapid deportation.

Anyone who's shared in the dubious pleasure of driving through Doha can attest to the impossible traffic and downright dangerous driving. I can't imagine this will be better during the World Cup, especially since all but two of the stadiums are in Doha.

For all their money, the Qataris have shown a worrying inability to complete major infrastructure projects on time. The farce over the opening of the new airport, which was delayed by several years, is a case in point. I have no reason to believe their management of the World Cup will be any better.

Writing as someone who spent several months there, Qatar is a dismal, boring country, probably the least interesting and least visually appealing in the entire region.


But really, even Qatar's manifest unsuitability to be a host distracts from the sheer high-visibility incompetence of how badly FIFA are handling their management of the independent report. Did they really think that Garcia wouldn't complain if they point blank lied about the contents? How blind do you have to be to believe that he wouldn't make a fuss?

FIFA: Next world government.

The Archregimancy wrote:I worked in Qatar for the last three months of 2013, running an archaeology project for a European university and - and I'll admit this made me uncomfortable - we were required to use labourers from South Asia and East Africa.

Frankly, I think Qatar is not really capable of hosting the tournament.

This isn't just a matter of human rights, worrying though that is, but also relates to infrastructure and culture.

There's simply nothing to do there that'll keep visitors sufficiently interested and entertained for a month when they're no watching football; the landscape outside of Doha is among the bleakest and least interesting I've ever seen, and Doha is realistically not a large city. Once you've been to the Museum of Islamic Art, the reconstructed souk and the new national museum, you have essentially exhausted the possibilities in Doha that don't involve someone attempting to convert you to Islam. Outside of Doha the options are arguably even more limited aside from the Inland Sea and an archaeology site or two.

The local authorities will have 'fan zones' where drinking will be permitted in the immediate vicinity of the venues (must keep sponsors Budweiser happy), but clearly haven't thought through the implications of having 10,000 happy Germans walking through the centre of Doha in a city where public drunkenness is illegal and results in rapid deportation.

Anyone who's shared in the dubious pleasure of driving through Doha can attest to the impossible traffic and downright dangerous driving. I can't imagine this will be better during the World Cup, especially since all but two of the stadiums are in Doha.

For all their money, the Qataris have shown a worrying inability to complete major infrastructure projects on time. The farce over the opening of the new airport, which was delayed by several years, is a case in point. I have no reason to believe their management of the World Cup will be any better.

Writing as someone who spent several months there, Qatar is a dismal, boring country, probably the least interesting and least visually appealing in the entire region.


But really, even Qatar's manifest unsuitability to be a host distracts from the sheer high-visibility incompetence of how badly FIFA are handling their management of the independent report. Did they really think that Garcia wouldn't complain if they point blank lied about the contents? How blind do you have to be to believe that he wouldn't make a fuss?

I think we can make a prediction here. 2022 will be end of FIFA as we know it.

If everything is like you said then this World Cup could be the worst sporting event in modern history.

The Archregimancy wrote:

Sdaeriji wrote:At this point, UEFA nations should seriously consider withdrawing from FIFA. FIFA is beyond saving, IMO.

Not going to happen - UEFA president Michel Platini is far too desperate to be Sepp Blatter's successor.

Also, one of the Qatar bid's main supporters was... Michel Platini. Blatter is widely believed to have voted for the United States.

Platini has admitted voting for Qatar and lobbying for the move to winter, but has insisted that a much scrutinised meeting with the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the now Emir of Qatar and the Qatar prime minister did not result in pressure being put on him. "I knew Sarkozy wanted the people from Qatar to buy PSG," Platini told the Guardian in May. "I understood that Sarkozy supported the candidature of Qatar. But he never asked me, or to vote for Russia [for the 2018 World Cup]. He knows my personality. I always vote for what is good for football. Not for myself, not for France."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... -world-cup


So UEFA are hardly going to withdraw from FIFA here given how heavily implicated the head of UEFA is in the whole Qatar disaster to begin with.


I instead suggest we disband all formal football governing structures and return to grassroots sport; small boys in the park... jumpers for goalposts...

Smartphones for goal line technology.

The Archregimancy wrote:I worked in Qatar for the last three months of 2013, running an archaeology project for a European university and - and I'll admit this made me uncomfortable - we were required to use labourers from South Asia and East Africa.

Frankly, I think Qatar is not really capable of hosting the tournament.

This isn't just a matter of human rights, worrying though that is, but also relates to infrastructure and culture.

There's simply nothing to do there that'll keep visitors sufficiently interested and entertained for a month when they're not watching football; the landscape outside of Doha is among the bleakest and least interesting I've ever seen, and Doha is realistically not a large city. Once you've been to the Museum of Islamic Art, the reconstructed souk and the new national museum, you have essentially exhausted the possibilities in Doha that don't involve someone attempting to convert you to Islam. Outside of Doha the options are arguably even more limited aside from the Inland Sea and an archaeology site or two.

The local authorities will have 'fan zones' where drinking will be permitted in the immediate vicinity of the venues (must keep sponsors Budweiser happy), but clearly haven't thought through the implications of having 10,000 happy Germans walking through the centre of Doha in a city where public drunkenness is illegal and results in rapid deportation.

Anyone who's shared in the dubious pleasure of driving through Doha can attest to the impossible traffic and downright dangerous driving. I can't imagine this will be better during the World Cup, especially since all but two of the stadiums are in Doha.

For all their money, the Qataris have shown a worrying inability to complete major infrastructure projects on time. The farce over the opening of the new airport, which was delayed by several years, is a case in point. I have no reason to believe their management of the World Cup will be any better.

Writing as someone who spent several months there, Qatar is a dismal, boring country, probably the least interesting and least visually appealing in the entire region.


But really, even Qatar's manifest unsuitability to be a host distracts from the sheer high-visibility incompetence of how badly FIFA are handling their management of the independent report. Did they really think that Garcia wouldn't complain if they point blank lied about the contents? How blind do you have to be to believe that he wouldn't make a fuss?

I don't think FIFA didn't expect Garcia to complain, I imagine it's more that they don't care. Blatter and his ilk think that they can get away with anything, and let's be honest they have in the past. There's an arrogance in FIFA that makes them think that they're untouchable and this is possibly what caused their blatant lying about the report.

Yeah, I can smell the whitewash from here.

Ethel mermania wrote:John olivier sumed up fifa quite nicely
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJEt2KU33I

Thanks for vid this was awesome!

It gets even better...

One of the members of the appeals panel that would be expected to adjudicate on Garcia's appeal against the summary version of his own report, apparently accepted cash payments from Qatar's Mohammed bin Hammam.

Unfortunately, the details are in a Sunday Times article that's behind a paywall, but for interest: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/new ... 417226.ece

Or, as the article's author has written on Twitter:

Ahmad Darw, member of the Fifa appeal committee Garcia hopes will overturn J. Eckert's 'erroneous' decision, took Bin Hammam's cash in 2010

1. Yes they must.
2. Um, whatever.

The Archregimancy wrote:It gets even better...

One of the members of the appeals panel that would be expected to adjudicate on Garcia's appeal against the summary version of his own report, apparently accepted cash payments from Qatar's Mohammed bin Hammam.

Unfortunately, the details are in a Sunday Times article that's behind a paywall, but for interest: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/new ... 417226.ece

Or, as the article's author has written on Twitter:

Ahmad Darw, member of the Fifa appeal committee Garcia hopes will overturn J. Eckert's 'erroneous' decision, took Bin Hammam's cash in 2010

There is nothing corrupt about FIFA. Pay no attention to the man counting stacks of cash behind the curtain.

Some quotes from Garcia from last month:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/14/us-soccer-fifa-garcia-idUSKCN0I308X20141014 wrote:
"The investigation and adjudication process operates in most parts unseen and unheard," the BBC quoted Garcia as saying in a keynote speech at an event organized by the American Bar Association in London.

"That's a kind of system which might be appropriate for an intelligence agency but not for an ethics compliance process in an international sports institution that serves the public and is the subject of intense public scrutiny."

[...]

"The natural next step of the development of an effective ethics process at FIFA is greater transparency," Garcia said.

"The second element that is vital to fulfilling the promise of this reform process is tone at the top.

"More simply put ... (what) FIFA needs in order to meet the challenge of ethics enforcement is leadership. An ethics committee -- even a serious, independent ethics committee backed by a strong code of ethics -- is not a silver bullet.

"What is required is leadership that sends a message that the rules apply to everyone; leadership that wants to understand and learn from any mistakes or missteps the ethics committee may have identified; leadership that makes it clear to everyone -- this is what we've set up the ethics committee to do, this is why they do it, and this is what they've done.

"It's that kind of leadership that breathes the life into a code of ethics. Because true reform doesn't come from rules or creating new committee structures. It comes from changing the culture of the organization."

When the investigator you appoint to look into potential ethics and corruption allegations attacks the ethical culture of your organization, you've got work to do.