The 430-page report, the majority of which was produced by FIFA's chief ethics investigator Michael Garcia and probes the bids which saw the 2018 and 2022 World Cups awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, was delivered to Eckert last month, since when repeated demands have been made for it to be published.

But the German judge, who expects his statement on the report to be ready by mid-November, says it's not as straightforward as people think.

"Publishing the report in full would actually put the FIFA Ethics Committee and FIFA itself in a very difficult situation legally," Eckert told FIFA.com.

"What is more, we have to respect the personal rights of the people mentioned in the report, which in the case of full publication of the report would in all likelihood not be possible."

Garcia is among those to have stated that the report should be made public, despite insideworldfootball claiming to have received correspondence proving he promised confidentiality to an interviewee during the investigation.

This has fuelled speculation that he and Eckert have fallen out over the publication of the report.

Michael Garcia (left) and Hans-Joachim Eckert (right) are believed to be in disagreement over the publication of the report into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups ©Getty Images



"No, that is not the case," said Eckert, when asked about whether he is in disagreement with Garcia.

"Michael Garcia has never said that the report should be 100 per cent published.

"He merely said that the 'appropriate' publication of his report should be authorised.

"The deputy chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber and I now have the task of drawing up this appropriate form for publication.

"Part of my current examination involves deciding what form this appropriate publication should take, whether this means issuing a statement regarding the investigation report or whether certain parts of the investigation report will be published while maintaining anonymity, or indeed a combination of these possibilities.

"This decision is exclusively a matter for the Adjudicatory Chamber, neither the Investigatory Chamber nor the FIFA Executive Committee can decide.

"The main requirement is that personal rights must not be damaged."

Eckert said his mid-November statement will contain an overview of the investigation report, a summary of the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report, as well as a brief evaluation of the same.

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