Fifa Corruption Report Must Be Published, Sajid Javid Says

The UK Has Just Upped Its Campaign Against Fifa Over Corruption Report

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid has joined calls for Fifa to publish its entire report into corruption surrounding the decision to award Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively.

Football's world governing authority has been roundly mocked for insisting its own probe, which was carried out by its own investigators, cleared itself of any wrongdoing - while refusing to release the full version of the report, publishing a 42-page summary instead.

This summary was attacked by Michael Garcia, the very man Fifa appointed to lead the two-year investigation. He said it had "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations".

Sajid Javid has written to Fifa President Sepp Blatter (pictured) to say the full corruption report should be published

The burgeoning controversy has angered football officials and led to ex-FA chairman calling for all Uefa to boycott the 2018 World Cup.

Writing to Fifa President Sepp Blatter, Mr Javid said Fifa's handling of the report so far "further calls into question their independence and transparency".

"Without the disclosure of the full report, Fifa risks not just further damage to its own credibility, but significant damage to the reputation of football as a whole," he wrote.

“I understand there are challenges around confidentiality within the report, but this is a challenge faced by many public bodies in conducting their work in an open and transparent way.

"It should not be beyond Fifa, working with those who contributed with an expectation of confidentiality, to publish the full report in a format that does not contravene assurances of confidentiality where they cannot be waived.”

"Fifa has a public duty to operate with the highest ethical standards, and with the levels of transparency and good governance expected from an international body representing 209 nations, hundreds of millions of players and billions of supporters."

Fifa has given a copy of the full report to the chair of its audit committee, Domenico Scala, who will decide whether to give it to its executive committee, who would ultimately decide what to do.

Fifa has last two major sponsors - Sony and Emirates Airlines - since the scandal began.

Other big name sponsors Coca Cola, McDonald's and Adidas have criticised Fifa's handling of its report but have not yet withdrawn their support. McDonald's has said it is "monitoring the situation".

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