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FIFA publishes full version of Garcia Report in response to leak by German paper Bild

General view of the FIFA logo seen at the entrance of the world football's governing body headquarters in Zurich
Image: FIFA has published the full Garcia Report more than two years after it was completed

FIFA has responded to the leaking of the Garcia Report into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process by publishing it in full.

The 400-plus page document had been leaked to German newspaper Bild, who began to filter out previously unpublished revelations on Monday night, with more promised throughout the week.

Garcia completed the report back in 2014 but resigned as the head of FIFA's investigatory body in December of that year in protest at what he described as FIFA's "incomplete and erroneous" 42-page summary of his report.

The parts of the leaked report published by Bild on Monday included the revelation that "two million dollars from an unknown source arrived in the savings account of the 10-year-old daughter of a FIFA member."

A statement from FIFA on publication of the entire report read: "The new chairpersons of the independent ethics committee, Maria Claudia Rojas of the investigatory chamber and Vassilios Skouris of the adjudicatory chamber, have decided to publish the Report on the Inquiry into the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup Bidding Process (the so-called 'Garcia Report').

"This had been called for on numerous occasions by FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the past and also supported by the FIFA Council since its meeting in Mexico City in May 2016.

"Despite these regular requests, it is worth noting that the former chairpersons of the ethics committee, Cornel Borbely and Hans-Joachim Eckert, had always refused to publish it.

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Image: Garcia resigned from his role with FIFA after the report was cut down to a 42-page summary

"The ethics committee will meet in its full composition under the new chairpersons for the first time next week, and it was already planned to use this opportunity to discuss the publication of the report.

"However, as the document has been illegally leaked to a German newspaper, the new chairpersons have requested the immediate publication of the full report (including the reports on the Russian and US bid teams, which were conducted by Mr Borbély alone) in order to avoid the dissemination of any misleading information.

"For the sake of transparency, FIFA welcomes the news that this report has now been finally published."

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