Sensational Report From FIFA Clears Russia, Qatar Of World Cup Bid Corruption, Criticizes UK

In a sensational report released today, FIFA have cleared World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar of any corruption and wrongdoing in their winning World Cup bids... but England came under fire for their role in trying to solicit votes from a disgraced ex-FIFA vice president.

The 42-page report comes almost four years after voting finished for the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. The presiding judge over the inquiry was German Hans-Joachim Eckert for the independent FIFA Ethics Committee, with former US attorney Michael J Garcia the head of the investigatory chamber of the committee. 

Somewhat amazingly, according to the New York Times, the report "found no significant evidence of corruption and dismissed the notion of a revote on the host nations", which means that the winning bids of Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Qatar for 2022, will remain legitimate. 

ESPN reported that the investigative process was problematic, saying "No proof of bribes or voting pacts was found in an investigation that was hampered by a lack of access to evidence and uncooperative witnesses".

England's bid for the 2018 tournament was criticised in the report, with Eckert finding that the losing bid from the UK had potentially "damaged the integrity of the ongoing bidding process". The criticism of the UK bid team concerns their relationship and contact with now-disgraced ex-FIDFA Vice President Jack Warner, who resigned in 2010, say ESPN.

To further muddy the waters, The New York Times also report that investigator Garcia was unhappy with the report, saying "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions detailed in the investigatory chamber's report."

The process for the tournament bidding has been dogged by rumours of wrongdoing from many of the bidders, with two selection committee members (Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, and Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar) eventually resigning.    

Russia will be the first Eastern European country to host a World Cup, while similarly Qatar - who are looking at moving the tournament to winter to cope with the heat - are the first country from the Middle East to welcome the prestigious tournament.