The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has fallen under fresh scrutiny after German newspaper Bild obtained what it said was a leaked copy of Michael Garcia's investigation into the controversial bidding process.
Omnisport understands FIFA will make an official comment later on Tuesday after Bild published the first of a series of revelations based, it claims, on the findings of the independent report.
Garcia, a former New York attorney, was appointed by FIFA in 2012 to investigate allegations of corruption surrounding the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar.
His report was submitted to the world governing body in September 2014, with FIFA releasing a summary two months later that cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing. However, Garcia claimed at the time that version was "incomplete and erroneous".
According to Bild, the full report alleges, among other claims, that a sum of $2million of unknown origin was transmitted to the bank account of a 10-year-old daughter of a FIFA official.
The German publication also revealed Garcia's claim that three members of FIFA's Executive Committee travelled in a private jet, belonging to the Qatar Football Association, to a party in Rio de Janeiro prior to the vote that determined the hosting rights.
The role of the Aspire Academy – a state-of-the-art sporting facility in Doha – is also believed to be questioned in the findings submitted by Garcia within the independent report.
Hans-Joachim Eckert, the outgoing chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, said in November 2014 that his department "did not find any violations or breaches of the relevant rules and regulations" regarding Qatar's World Cup bid.
Garcia quit his role a month later in protest at FIFA's handling of his report.
Peter Rossberg, the Bild reporter who is said to have obtained the full document, stated on his personal Facebook page that the leaked version was not proof that the 2018 or 2022 World Cups were bought.
Anmerkungen zum Garcia-Report: Weil jetzt schon viele Fragen und Anmerkungen kommen, will ich ein paar Zeilen zur Erlä...
Posted by Peter Rossberg/ Reporter on Monday, 26 June 2017
FIFA, the Aspire Academy and Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy – the local organising committee responsible for staging the 2022 tournament – are yet to respond to requests for comment.
