FA chief Greg Dyke has branded FIFA's report into World Cup bidding as a joke
Thursday 13 November 2014 21:06, UK
FA chairman Greg Dyke has branded FIFA’s report on Michael Garcia’s investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids as a 'joke'.
A 42-page report published by FIFA on Thursday cleared World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar of corruption while accusing the English Football Association of flouting bid rules and attempting to damage its name.
It has made a bit of a mockery of the whole process if the person who did the investigation says the report didn’t reflect what he believed.
However, less than four hours after its publication Garcia, who spent two years carrying out the probe, said the report was wrong and that he would appeal against its findings.
Garcia, FIFA’s chief ethics investigator, issued a statement claiming the report 'contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations'.
And Dyke responded on Sky Sports News HQ saying: “I think we are all surprised by Michael Garcia’s comments.
Mockery
“It has made a bit of a mockery of the whole process if the person who did the investigation says the report didn’t reflect what he believed. I’m a bit shocked by it all, as I’m sure most people are."
Dyke now believes Garcia’s report should be published in full and be available to everyone.
“We’ve always wanted the full report published, you may have to take out some names that were given confidentially,” added Dyke.
“But we’ve always wanted it published, Garcia wants it published and he clearly wants it published now.
However, Dyke does not believe Sepp Blatter’s position as president of FIFA is untenable.
“I don’t think it’s anything to do with Sepp Blatter, to be honest, but I think it is a bit of a joke now, the whole process.
I don’t think it’s anything to do with Sepp Blatter, to be honest, but I think it is a bit of a joke now, the whole process.
“It has undermined the whole process, if the person who did the investigation says what they are saying isn’t what I said, what’s the point of it?”
Earlier, the FA issued a statement refusing to “accept any criticism” regarding their bid.
"We were not given any prior notice of the report before publication. We do not accept any criticism regarding the integrity of England's bid or any of the individuals involved.
"We conducted a transparent bid and, as the report demonstrates with its reference to the England bid team's 'full and valuable co-operation', willingly complied with the investigation. We maintain that transparency and co-operation around this entire process from all involved is crucial to its credibility.
Compromise
Somebody edits your report and doesn't publish it in full then they can actually flavour, if you like, the outcome from that report.
"We also note that after a lengthy investigatory process and assessment, the report has concluded that the 'potentially problematic facts and circumstances identified by the report regarding the England 2018 bid were, all in all, not suited to compromise the integrity of the FIFA World Cup 2018/22 bidding process as a whole'."
And Former FA chief executive Mark Palios is backing Garcia, claiming the 'flavour' of his report could be diluted with only an edited version of the document made public.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Mr Palios said: "It is deeply disturbing to be quite honest. He is a serious guy, he is a serious professional and he wouldn't make statements like that which are quite damning in terms of the assessment of the summary.
"And of course, that is one of the dangers of this. Somebody edits your report and doesn't publish it in full then they can actually flavour, if you like, the outcome from the report.
"That's what people would possibly expect from FIFA, because of their views of FIFA, and as a consequence this thing will continue to roll on."
