FIFA announce that investigator Michael Garcia will launch appeal

FIFA have confirmed that ethics investigator Michael Garcia will challenge the decision to clear Qatar and Russia to host the 2022 and 2018 World Cup tournaments.

Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, the FIFA Ethics committee chief, ruled there was no reason to re-run the bidding process in his summary of Garcia’s investigation into the bidding process.

But the US attorney has said Eckert’s version was a misrepresentation of his key findings and will appeal against the decision to clear Russia and Qatar.

A FIFA statement said: "Regarding reports about a potential appeal by Michael J. Garcia, chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee, FIFA can today confirm receipt of his intention to appeal to the FIFA appeal committee."

But the governing body have created further confusion about the appeal process by claiming they are "not in a position" to interpret the statements made by Eckert or Garcia.

The statement added: "The ethics committee is independent from FIFA and contains two separate chambers that mirror the system of justice in many countries with an investigatory chamber independent from the adjudicatory chamber.

"In line with this independence, FIFA does not have any influence over the writing of investigatory reports nor over the findings of any investigations."