The FIFA Ethics Committee has cleared Russia and Qatar to host the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups.

Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, released a 42-page statement on the inquiry into the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process prepared by the Ivestigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee.

“The evaluation of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is closed for the FIFA Ethics Committee,” Eckert wrote in his statement.

“The Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee finds that the investigation into the said bidding process has been conducted in full compliance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics.”

“The Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber supports the recommendations made by the Chairmen of the Investigatory Chamber in their report on the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process.”

“The Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee is prepared to examine specific cases if the Investigatory Chamber opens Ethics proceedings against officials based on information obtained during the FIFA World Cup investigation,” Eckert concluded his findings.

Please open following file to read the full 42-page statement by Hans-Joachim Eckert:
FIFA-Report-Qatar-Russia.pdf

Meanwhile, football’s world-governing body FIFA responded to the Ethics Committee statement with an official release.

FIFA Statement:

FIFA would firstly like to acknowledge the efforts made by the investigatory chamber and the adjudicatory chamber in the extensive work undertaken to date, as well as recognise the cooperation of all those witnesses who have so far assisted the independent Ethics Committee in establishing the facts in this case.

FIFA welcomes the fact that a degree of closure has been reached with the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber stating today that “the evaluation of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups™ bidding process is closed for the FIFA Ethics Committee”. This comes after the chairman stated that “as regards the procedural framework for conducting bidding procedures related to awarding the hosts of the final competitions of FIFA World Cups™, the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee did not find any violations or breaches of the relevant rules and regulations”.

As such, FIFA looks forward to continuing the preparations for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, which are already well underway.

For the sake of further closure, FIFA supports the independent Ethics Committee with respect to their preparedness to potentially open future cases against officials based on the information obtained during this investigation.

Finally, FIFA acknowledges the recommendations mentioned in the statement with regard to improving the bidding process for future FIFA World Cups, but also notes the comments of the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber regarding the bidding process for the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups as “well-thought, robust and professional”.

FIFA has already revised the host selection process for the FIFA World Cup as part of the 2011-2013 governance reform process, with the decision to be made in future by the FIFA Congress instead of the Executive Committee, while discussions for potential additional amendments are ongoing as part of an internal review for the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process. The recommendations of the Ethics Committee will be carefully considered and assessed as part of this ongoing review.