FIFA Ex Co Recommends Releasing Garcia Report, Two Days After Garcia Resigned In Protest

In a rather bizarre twist, FIFA’s executive committee now recommends releasing the Garcia Report, two days after Michael Garcia resigned his position on FIFA’s ethics committee in protest due to FIFA turning down his appeal to release the entire Garcia Report.

As an organization who was so hellbent on not having the Garcia Report see the light of day, they made a complete 180 in being ethical [ed. note “the illusion of being ethical”] and now wants to publish the report. There are still some roadblocks in terms of getting this released because FIFA is going to wait until “after cases against individuals have been concluded.” This probably won’t result in any substantial changes because FIFA President Sepp Blatter has already said that regardless of what’s in the report, “We will not revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote.” The main purpose of the releasing the report is to make improvements on the 2026 bid. So don’t get your hopes up about FIFA moving the World Cups.

Blatter welcomed the news and fully supported the decision. In a statement from Blatter himself, he said, “I want to make it clear that our commitment to ethical standards is stronger than ever.” Now once you stop laughing at the insane nature of that statement, think about it critically and technically he’s right. In order for Blatter’s statement to be incorrect, FIFA would’ve had to have a strong commitment to ethical standards at some point and I don’t think that has ever happened. Michael Garcia seemed to be the most ethical of the bunch and FIFA tried to report him for being unethical. FIFA’s “commitment to ethical standards” is a very low bar based on their history so Blatter could very well be correct. This just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

(FIFA/Blatter Statement)

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp

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