FIFA unanimously agree to publish Michael Garcia's report

FIFA's executive committee has agreed unanimously to publish Michael Garcia's report into World Cup bidding - where legally possible.

But FIFA president Sepp Blatter has ruled out revisiting the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups following a report by "independent, external legal experts."

Blatter has revealed that he supported the publication of the report and said: "We have been in a crisis. The decision today means the crisis has stopped."

Garcia, the former attorney hired by FIFA to investigate the bidding process for the 2018 tournament - won by Russia - and 2022 competition to be held in Qatar, resigned from his position on FIFA's ethics committee on Wednesday.

His 430-page report was submitted to FIFA in September and a 40-page summary was published by his ethics committee colleague Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert in November.

Garcia immediately complained that Eckert's summary was "incomplete and erroneous" and made a formal appeal.

That appeal was rejected by FIFA on Tuesday, and Garcia stepped down the following day, citing a "lack of leadership" at the top of world football's governing body.

FIFA's top compliance official, Domenico Scale, recommended to the Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting in Marrakesh on Friday morning that the report be released in an 'appropriate' form and where legally possible. 

There was no vote - his recommendation was agreed to unanimously by ExCo members. This means the ExCo avoided a vote on German member Theo Zwanziger's proposal to change the ethics code rules which would allow full and immediate publication.

The key issue now will be what information in Garcia's report will be deemed to be legally sensitive.

While considerably more of the full report will now be made available, there are likely to be significant redactions. There is, as yet, no timetable and it will down to the ExCo to decide in what form and when it is published.

UEFA president Michel Platini welcomed the move to publish and said: "It was important that the FIFA Executive Committee decided today to publish the Garcia report.

"I have always battled for transparency and this is a step in the right direction. Let us hope that the report can now be published as quickly as possible. The credibility of FIFA depends on it."

Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce, from Northern Ireland, was another to welcome the move to publish.

He said: "I am pleased the the FIFA executive committee decided without a vote to publish this report. It shows that people at FIFA at the moment do desire transparency and the sooner we can get on with talking about the game of football that we all love, the better."

Whatever the report reveals, Russia and Qatar will remain as the hosts for the next two tournaments. Blatter confirmed that there will be no re-vote. 

In a statement on Friday, made in the wake of the Garcia announcement, Blatter said "external legal experts" supported the view that "there are no legal grounds" to revoke the controversial vote in 2010.

Blatter said in a statement: "The report is about history and I am focused on the future. We will not revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote and a report by independent, external legal experts commissioned by Mr Scala supports the view that there are no legal grounds to revoke the executive committee's decision on the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups."

He added: "We also need to remember that while the report is complete, the  investigations flowing from it are not. We must ensure that we do not jeopardise those investigations and the proceedings against various individuals already initiated by the independent ethics committee. Participants in the investigation also deserve to have their rights respected.

"It is clear that while a summary of the report was issued, the publication of this report has become a barrier to rebuilding public confidence and trust in FIFA. Part of this is due to the fact that we have been deliberate in the way that we have moved through the process. We need to ensure that we respect the rules of our organisation and that we do not breach confidentiality in a way that will prevent people from speaking out in the future."

FIFA have confirmed that a final decision on the timing of the 2022 World Cup will be taken in March, with November/December 2022 remaining the most likely time in order to avoid the extreme heat of the summer.