By Daniel Etchells

Sajid Javid says FIFA is risking significant damage to football as a whole by not disclosing the full report into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups ©Getty ImagesBritain's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid, has written a letter to FIFA President Sepp Blatter urging football's world governing body to publish a full account of the investigation into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Earlier this month, Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, released a 42-page report on the findings of Michael Garcia, FIFA's chief ethics investigator, clearing Russia and Qatar to host the next two World Cups.

But, just hours after it was made public, Garcia claimed the summary of his 350-page report into the bidding campaigns contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions".

The United States attorney met with Eckert last week to discuss the differences in representation and it was agreed they would release full copies of their reports to the chairman of FIFA's Audit and Compliance Committee, Domenico Scala.

Scala is due to put selected evidence to the FIFA Executive Committee, who will then "evaluate which steps are required".

In his letter to Blatter, Javid argues the way that FIFA has handled disclosure of the Garcia report "further calls into question FIFA's independence and transparency."

There are growing calls for FIFA President Sepp Blatter to give the go ahead to the full publication of Michael Garcia's report ©Getty ImagesThere are growing calls for FIFA President Sepp Blatter to give the go ahead to the full publication of Michael Garcia's report ©Getty Images



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

The Conservative Party politician's move backs the stance of the English Football Association, whose chairman Greg Dyke wrote to Blatter and every member of the Executive Committee last week urging for the full Garcia report to be made public.

"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," added Javid.

"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 is rightly proud of having a membership greater in number than the United Nations.

"With that in mind, 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."

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