FIFA's top ethics investigator to appeal decision on World Cups

The decision to clear Qatar and Russia to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has been thrown into chaos after FIFA’s chief ethics investigator Michael Garcia announced he will appeal against the ruling on his investigation into bidding for the tournaments.

German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s independent ethics committee, effectively confirmed Qatar and Russia as 2022 and 2018 hosts respectively, stating any rule breaches by the bidding countries were “of very limited scope” and would not require the bidding process to be reopened.