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Eckert seeks out Garcia after FIFA World Cup probe criticism
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FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert says he was surprised at public criticism from his investigative counterpart Michael Garcia over the report which concluded that the bidding process for the 2018/2022 World Cups did not have to be re-run.
Eckert issued a 42-page statement on Thursday on the controversial process which ended with the tournaments being awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, based on findings from report compiled by Garcia following an 18-month investigation.
Three hours later Garcia issued his own statement saying the FIFA report contained “numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts”, adding that he was going to appeal against its verdicts.
“Usually you would first speak to each other internally if you don’t like something,” Eckert said yesterday, adding that he had not been able to get in touch with Garcia.
“I have been trying to contact him,” he said.
Eckert confirmed that Garcia had not received a copy of the statement before it was made public. “It could be a misunderstanding after all,” he said.
The German judge declined to discuss further the conflict between the two men over a case which will do much to define FIFA’s ability and willingness to improve its scandal-scarred image.
In an interview with the BBC, Eckert said he was “surprised, not shocked” at Garcia’s reaction. “I’m a long time in the job here. I don’t think anything surprises me,” said the lawyer, who has judged cases for 36 years in Munich.
Eckert cleared Russia and Qatar despite acknowledging some wrongdoing in their bids. All but one of the nine bid candidates were linked by the investigation to some unethical behavior ahead of the December 2010 votes by FIFA’s executive committee.
“In particular, the effects of these occurrences on the bidding process as a whole were far from reaching any threshold that would require returning to the bidding process, let alone reopening it,” Eckert summarized.
The judge seemed to require a criminal burden of proof, while at the same time acknowledging Garcia was hampered by lacking power to subpoena witnesses and evidence.
Adding to his reputation for caution and leniency in FIFA cases, Eckert declined to identify officials whom Garcia implicated and wants publicly named along with details of the charges they face.
Eckert also praised Sepp Blatter but left out Garcia’s criticism of the FIFA president’s leadership, according to an official familiar with the investigation reports who preferred to remain anonymous.
Eckert and Garcia could oppose each other at a hearing at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, while still needing to cooperate on the World Cup corruption case and other matters referred to their ethics panel.
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