Head FIFA Investigator Quits To Protest Cover-Up

Michael J. Garcia, the former U.S. Attorney who spent 18 months investigating charges of corruption levied against FIFA only to have his 432-page report locked away and publicly summarized in a 42-page report that Garcia himself deemed to be incomplete and inaccurate, is tired of this bullshit.

Garcia announced today that he is resigning from the FIFA ethics committee after his appeal for the release of his full report was denied. Garcia brought the heat in a public statement announcing his resignation, and appears to be especially disappointed in Joachim Eckert, his ethics committee colleague who was responsible for concealing the full report and writing the 42-page summary. From the AP:

"(The) Eckert Decision made me lose confidence in the independence of the Adjudicatory Chamber, (but) it is the lack of leadership on these issues within FIFA that leads me to conclude that my role in this process is at an end," Garcia wrote.

[...]

"(W)hen viewed in the context of the report it purported to summarize, no principled approach could justify the Eckert Decision's edits, omissions, and additions," Garcia wrote.

Hilariously, Garcia also claims that FIFA president Sepp Blatter attempted to open disciplinary proceedings against Garica in September, presumably because Garcia had been very critical of FIFA's decision to keep his report secret. That tells you all you need to know about just how fucked-up FIFA is: when the head of its ethics committee turns out to be too ethical, he gets tattled on to the disciplinary committee.