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World Cup: Australians hit out at FIFA over criticism of bid for 2022 tournament

Frank Lowy,  Chairman FFA speaks during a media opportunity to mark the 100 day countdown until the beginning of the 2015 Asian Cup
Image: Frank Lowy: Chairman of the FFA

Australia's football chief has denied any wrongdoing during the country's failed campaign to host the 2022 World Cup.

And an Australian politician has called FIFA's investigation a "sick farce" and demanded their money back as the fall-out from the controversial summary of Michael Garcia’s report into the World Cup bidding process continues.

FIFA’s ethics committee released a summary of US attorney Garcia’s report on Thursday morning in which Russia and Qatar – the World Cup hosts in 2018 and 2022 respectively – were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Rival bidders, including England and Australia, were criticised in the summary – but the whole issue erupted into chaos on Thursday afternoon when Garcia claimed the summary was a misrepresentation of his report.

I made it clear to all involved in our bid that we would run a clean campaign and I stressed this objective at every opportunity.
Federation Football Australia chief Frank Lowy

FA chief Greg Dyke called the process “a joke” and the Australians have also now hit out at FIFA’s handling of the affair.  

Federation Football Australia (FFA) chief Frank Lowy said: "I made it clear to all involved in our bid that we would run a clean campaign and I stressed this objective at every opportunity.”

Australian senator Nick Xenophon said the investigation was a "whitewash" and a "sick farce". He called on FIFA to refund the money Australia had spent on the bid - around £23 million - saying they had been "absolutely ripped off".

More from Fifa Qatar Report

Lowy, the billionaire owner of the shopping mall giant Westfield Group, addressed some of the allegations made against Australia, saying the FFA had worked closely with FIFA throughout the bidding process.

The report summary said Australia's bid had funded football development projects around the world and "helped create the appearance that benefits were conferred in exchange for a vote".

Image: Michael Garcia: His report has led to chaos at FIFA

The FFA was also accused of making payments to CONCACAF, the regional body for football in north and central America, which "appear to have been commingled, at least in part, with personal funds" of then CONCACAF president Jack Warner.

The third main allegation was that the bid had tried "to direct funds the Australian government had set aside for existing development projects in Africa toward initiatives in countries with ties to FIFA Executive Committee members".

Lowy said Australia had been encouraged by FIFA to "take every opportunity to demonstrate Australia's commitment to football, especially in developing regions".

"It's clear that this led us to be misled in particular relating to a payment made to CONCACAF which was later revealed to have been misappropriated," he added.

"In hindsight, there are many things we might have done differently and we remain disappointed by our experience of the World Cup bidding process."

The FFA said they would await advice on the next steps in the process given "the apparent dispute between chairmen of the FIFA Ethics Committee's Adjudicatory and Investigatory chambers" - a reference to Garcia's appeal against the findings of the summary of the report he helped compile.

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