FIFA investigator Michael Garcia resigns in protest

Garcia released a statement explaining his decision to step down from his role with FIFA having led the investigation into the bid processes involved in the 2018 World Cup finals - to be hosted by Russia - and the 2022 World Cup finals to be staged in Qatar.

The American lawyer was unhappy with the independence of fellow ethics committee member German Han-Joachim Eckert, who produced the summary of Garcia's 430-page investigation.

Eckert's statement recommended that there was not enough evidence to justify reopening the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

Garcia claimed that Eckert had misrepresented his work with his public summary.

"For the first two years after my July 2012 appointment as independent Chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee's Investigatory Chamber, I felt that the Ethics Committee was making real progress in advancing ethics enforcement at FIFA. In recent months, that changed," said Garcia.

Garcia has criticised FIFA's "lack of leadership", saying he cannot change the culture of the world governing body.

He said: "Accordingly, effective today, December 17, 2014, I am resigning as independent chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee."

Garcia, who discovered on Tuesday that he had lost his appeal against the findings by ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, said it would have been "impractical" to take the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

His statement adds: "The appeal committee also overlooked the Eckert decision's self-described 'findings', including one stating that "the evaluation of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is closed for the FIFA ethics committee.

"FIFA president [Sepp] Blatter recently reaffirmed that 'finding' during an interview published by FIFA, stating: 'Furthermore, there is no change to Judge Eckert's statement that the investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups is concluded.'

"I disagree with the appeal committee's decision. It now appears that, at least for the foreseeable future, the Eckert decision will stand as the final word on the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process."

FIFA's Executive Committee is meeting in Marrakech, which is hosting the Club World Club, this week.

The Exco is due to debate a proposal from Germany's Theo Zwanziger to allow the publication of Garcia's report in full.

FIFA and Qatar World Cup organisers have been fending off allegations of corruption ever since the Gulf state was awarded the 2022 tournament.

Qatar, which has repeatedly denied the allegations, has also been criticised over its treatment of migrant workers in the construction industry.

FIFA's rejection of Garcia's appeal over misrepresentations in the statement on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding probe was "predictable" for a governing body littered with self interest, according to the Australian whistleblower referred to in the statement.

FIFA on Tuesday turned down its chief investigator's appeal against Judge Eckert's statement which cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing in their winning bids to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively.

Garcia had said Eckert's statement contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions" detailed in his own report into the bidding process after an 18-month investigation.

FIFA also said there were no grounds for opening disciplinary proceedings against Eckert following complaints from whistleblowers that their evidence had been revealed.

Bonita Mersiades, who worked on the Australian bid team for the 2022 World Cup, said she was one of the unnamed whistleblowers referred to in the statement whose reliability was questioned and evidence dismissed out of hand.

"FIFA is nothing if not predictable, and has today surpassed itself in obfuscation and deflection," she said in a statement on her website late on Tuesday.

"FIFA's position underscores why we need a new FIFA.

"These issues are no longer just about winning bids from Russia and Qatar and losing bids, including Australia.

"It is about FIFA and the bid process that lent itself to abuse. In FIFA's world, there is no room for ordinary fans."

FIFA used legalese in justifying its rejection of Garcia's appeal, saying Eckert's statement did not constitute a decision and was therefore neither legally binding nor appealable.

The other whistleblower referred to in the report, who was also discredited, was American Phaedra Al-Majid, who worked on the Qatar bid team.

FIFA said the whistleblowers' breach of confidentiality claim had "no substance" because they had "gone public" with their own media activities before the statement came out.

FIFA and Qatar World Cup organisers have been fending off allegations of corruption ever since the Gulf state was awarded the 2022 tournament.

Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations and said it ran a clean bid.

Allegations of bidding corruption made by two former employees of World Cup bids were examined by Garcia, but largely dismissed by Eckert.

One of those employees, Phaedra Almajid, a former official of Qatar's bid, said in an email that Garcia's resignation and the reasons he gave "are one more, emphatic exposure of FIFA's self-protecting corruption. FIFA has no ethics. Its rules are a farce."

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was surprised by Garcia's decision to resign. "The work of the Ethics Committee will nonetheless continue and will be a central part of the discussions at the ExCo meeting in the next two days."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating allegations of corruption involving FIFA and affiliated organizations based in the Western Hemisphere.

Reuters reported last year that FBI investigators had persuaded Daryan Warner, a son of Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice-president, to be a cooperating witness.

Since at least the summer of 2011, the FBI has been examining more than $500,000 in payments made by the Caribbean Football Union to an offshore company headed by Chuck Blazer, formerly at top soccer official in the United States. Warner headed both the Caribbean group and the Western Hemisphere soccer body called CONCACAF.

Last month, the New York Daily News reported that Blazer was also cooperating with the FBI and had covertly taped meetings with international soccer executives on the FBI's behalf. A person familiar with Blazer's activities confirmed the newspaper's story and said Blazer had also turned over paper and electronic records to U.S. investigators.

Blazer has not responded to requests for comment. Jack Warner was not available for comment.

Garcia said his report had "identified serious and wide-ranging issues with the bidding and selection process."

Garcia also said FIFA's executive committee reported him to its disciplinary committee for publicly asking them to authorise publication of his report. The complaint was rejected, Garcia said.

Garcia, who was appointed in 2012 and spent 18 months investigating, said he felt that initially the ethics committee had made progress.

"For the first two years after my July 2012 appointment ... I felt that the Ethics Committee was making real progress in advancing ethics enforcement at FIFA," he said. But he added: "In recent months, that changed."