FIFA's Executive Committee has yet to reveal the contents of an in-depth – and potentially explosive – investigative report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, but U.S. Soccer president and ExCo member Sunil Gulati plans to “aggressively lobby” for the report to be made public when the powerful body gathers in Switzerland this week.
Gulati expressed that intent in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, noting that FIFA's stated desire for greater transparency requires the report to be shared with a wider audience, even if it requires some redaction due to sensitive information that could still be under investigation.
“If we’re going to truly support the idea of transparency and change within FIFA, it has to be made public in the truest meaning of the word,” Gulati told the Times' Sam Borden. “That doesn’t mean only to the executive committee. It has to be more. Right now, the whole story is not about what’s in the report, but whether it should be made public. And that isn’t ideal for anyone.”
FIFA hired Michael J. Garcia, a former US attorney, to dig into the processes by which Russia and Qatar were awarded the next two World Cup tournaments, with the announcements made simultaneously in Dec. 2010.
Garcia's efforts resulted in a 350-page report accompanied by about 2,000 pages of evidence centering on the ExCo's votes, which yielded surprising results that have been dogged by accusations of bribery and influence-peddling. But the Times suggests that only four people have seen the report: Garcia, Hans-Joachim Eckert (chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s independent ethics committee) and their respective assistants.
“The report is expected to deal with the conduct of individuals – who might then be investigated further – but any decision on what should happen to the World Cup bids is expected to be determined by the executive committee,” writes Borden. “That is one reason why Gulati and others who have lobbied for transparency concede that some redactions in the report may be necessary if it is to be released, if only to avoid undermining further investigations as well as protect the identity of witnesses who may have served as whistleblowers.”
Eckert released a statement on Wednesday reiterating that only the adjudicatory chamber’s impressions of the report would be released and not the whole report, prompting Garcia to again urge FIFA to release the entire document.
“Given the limited role Mr. Hans-Joachim Eckert envisions for the Adjudicatory Chamber, I believe it is now necessary for FIFA to authorize the appropriate publication of the Report on the Inquiry into the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup Bidding Process,” Garcia said in a statement. “Publication would be consistent with statements made by a number of Executive Committee members, with the view recently expressed by Independent Governance Committee Chair Mark Pieth, and with the goals of the reform process.”
While Gulati declined to say which of his committee colleagues support his outlook, the Times asserts that “like-minded members” include CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb and FIFA vice presidents Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein and Jim Boyce of Jordan and Northern Ireland, respectively.
Prince Ali took to Twitter earlier this week to contend that the public “has a full right to know,” hinting that he will join Gulati in pressing the matter when the ExCo convenes in Zurich on Thursday.
“That is why I want to raise this,” Gulati said. “I think it is important and I think the executive committee can, and should, ask for it to be released in a reasonable form.”
