Blatter refuses to disclose findings of the Garcia report

Blatter refuses to disclose findings of the Garcia report

In what could be termed as a major blow to FIFA’s image, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has refused to make any findings of the Garcia report public.

As earlier reported by TFM, there was an outcry by representatives from England to make the entire Garcia report public. The main reason for this demand was cited to be the opaqueness of FIFA who are notoriously famous for sweeping many things under the carpet.

But the current FIFA president, who is seeking a re-election for the fifth term running, has decided to go against the demands of a certain section of the footballing fraternity.

The chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert said in a statement:

“As already mentioned, the report by the investigatory chamber regarding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups is currently being evaluated by the adjudicatory chamber, i.e. by Alan Sullivan and myself. It is likely that at the beginning of November, we will be able to give the first public statement of our position with regard to this general report. Our primary task for now is to examine whether the investigatory chamber has followed all the correct procedures and whether, in our assessment, more detailed information is required in certain areas.

However, it is up to the investigatory chamber, under the chairmanship of Michael Garcia, to decide whether – and if so against whom – specific ethics proceedings should be opened. If Michael Garcia and his deputy Cornel Borbély find that such individual proceedings are required, the matter will be formally referred to the adjudicatory chamber (cf. art. 69 of the FIFA Code of Ethics), which will then initiate the adjudicatory proceedings. The final decision of any such proceedings will be made public in accordance with art. 36 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.”

This is turning out to be a murky saga for FIFA and Sepp Blatter in particular, whose reputation is at stake.