Citing a “lack of leadership” at the top of football’s world governing body, FIFA’s independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia has quit in protest over the handling of his report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Garcia said he lost confidence in the independence of German judge Joachim Eckert, an ethics committee colleague.
In a reaction, UEFA president Michel Platini said: “We wanted all transparency but this is a new failure for FIFA.”
“It is the lack of leadership on these issues within FIFA that leads me to conclude that my role in this process is at an end,” said Garcia.
Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup, while Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament.
Garcia’s findings were released as a 42-page summary of the 430-page report.
He said the summary was “erroneous” and complained to FIFA, which said his appeal was “not admissible”.
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