Football
ESPN staff 9y

Qatar whistleblower condemns 'crude, cynical and erroneous' FIFA report

The controversy over FIFA's report into the bidding practices for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has deepened after a witness who provided information about Qatar's bid complained she had been "discredited," Sky Sports News has reported.

World football's governing body is under the spotlight following the release of the report by the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee on Thursday.

Hans-Joachim Eckert's 42-page document cleared Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, having found no serious breaches of bidding rules by either nation.

But Michael Garcia, the former U.S. Attorney who conducted the investigation on which Thursday's report was based, and whose full report has not been made public, has appealed against the version released by FIFA.

Phaedra Almajid, who left her post as the head of international media for Qatar 2022 in 2010 amid concern over the conduct of the campaign, has since cooperated fully with the investigation by former U.S. Attorney Garcia.

However, Eckert's report ruled that her evidence was unreliable, and she has now lodged a formal complaint with Garcia in which she said her safety could also have been compromised.

Almajid condemned the German judge's findings as "crude, cynical and fundamentally erroneous" and said he had breached the confidentiality promised by world football's governing body.

Although she was not named in the report, its reference to previous public statements she had made meant she could be identified.

She said she had "taken great personal risks to stand up for the truth in a highly politicised atmosphere" but had been "betrayed and denigrated for being courageous."

In her letter of complaint, seen by Sky, she wrote: "Confidentiality was crucial to my cooperation with your investigation considering my personal circumstances, particularly the safety of my two sons and me.

"Not only was Herr Eckert's summary a crude, cynical and fundamentally erroneous description of me and the information and materials I provided your investigation, it directly breached FIFA's assurances of my confidentiality.

#INSERT type:image caption:Eckert's report, released on Thursday, has been condemned by Garcia, who has appealed against its conclusions. END#

"Within hours of publication of Herr Eckert's summary, I had already been widely identified as one of the 'whistleblowers' in German and British media.

"In any organisation -- particularly one with huge resources and global reach like FIFA -- protection of insiders who expose wrongdoing is essential to an honest and healthy business.

"Identifying me and falsely discrediting me sends a message to anyone who may think to come forward that their credibility and protection will be in jeopardy for the rest of their lives."

Bonita Mersiades, a former Australia bid insider who has also written a letter of complaint to Garcia, and Almajid issued a joint statement.

"Judge Eckert used his summary report to question our credibility," the statement said. "This is particularly puzzling, as the summary simultaneously uses the same information we provided to form significant parts of his inquiry in respect of the Australian and Qatar World Cup bids.

"We note that, within hours of the summary report's publication, Mr Garcia denounced it, alleging 'numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions' that are detailed in the full report."

They have asked Garcia to "investigate a breach of Article 16.1[of the FIFA code of ethics, covering confidentiality] by FIFA and Judge Eckert."

Earlier on Monday, former Football Association chairman David Bernstein told the BBC he wanted European countries to boycott the 2018 World Cup unless FIFA undergoes serious reform.

According to Bernstein, who retired from the FA last year, boycotting football's biggest tournament should be a real possibility, but only if other countries supported England in doing so.

"England on its own cannot influence this -- one country can't do it," he told BBC Sport.

"If I was at the FA now, I would do everything I could to encourage other nations within UEFA -- and there are some who would definitely be on side, others maybe not -- to take this line. At some stage, you have to stop talking and do something."

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