On November 13th it described the results of an internal investigation into the bidding process as having mostly cleared itself and the host countries of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, on November 18th it said that it was handing the report from that probe over to Swiss authorities because it may have uncovered criminal activity (as yet unspecified).

The investigation into the bidding process had been led by Michael Garcia, an American lawyer, who submitted over 400 pages of findings to FIFA’s ethics committee in September. His report was then reviewed by Hans-Joachim Eckert, a German judge who heads the committee’s adjudicatory chamber (pictured right, with Mr Garcia). It was not published, despite pleas from some FIFA officials and Mr Garcia himself. Instead Mr Eckert released his own summary, which Mr Garcia has described as “incomplete and erroneous”. Two whistle-blowers have since said that Mr Eckert tarnished and misrepresented them. Mr Garcia has appealed against Mr Eckert’s interpretation of his report—to another FIFA committee.

Ever since Russia and Qatar won the hosting rights in 2010, there have been allegations of funny business. Several FIFA officials involved have since stepped down under a cloud. In June the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, published e-mails detailing lavish campaigning by Mohamed bin Hammam, a disgraced former FIFA bigwig from Qatar, ahead of the vote for his country. Lord Triesman, who led England’s bid for the 2018 tournament, has said FIFA officials asked him for bribes.

So it may seem odd that England was the country most harshly criticised by Mr Eckert. Its bid committee had accommodated unethical requests from corrupt FIFA officials, he said. Qatar, too, had committed some violations, but according to Mr Eckert its actions “were, all in all, not suited to compromise the integrity” of the process. Russia was let off the hook, even though investigators had limited access to its documents because the computers its officials used had been destroyed.(Economist)

翻译：

经过一次国际调查，国际足联于11月13日从竞标过程内部调查结果描述来看撇清自己和主办国的嫌疑。不过到了11月18日，国际足联又改口说，它将把报告提交瑞士当局，因为报告中的内容可能涉嫌犯罪(但未做出具体说明)。

主持此次调查的是美国律师迈克尔·加西亚，随后他于九月，向国际足联道德委员会提交了400余页的报告(下文简称“加西亚报告”)。德国法官，同时也是道德委员会裁决小组主席的汉斯-约阿希姆·埃克特(图中右者)审阅了报告。虽然国际足联一些官员和加西亚本人均要求公开报告内容，但最终亮相的只是一份经埃克特重述的摘要(下文简称“埃克特摘要”)。这份摘要，加西亚说它“不完整，且与报告有出入”。摘要发布以来，有两位举报人称埃克特损害了他们的名誉，并曲解了他们的话。加西亚已就埃里克摘要向国际足联另一委员会提出申诉。

2010年俄卡两国赢得主办权以来，丑闻申诉不绝于耳。数名涉事的国际足联官员在质疑中辞职。英国报纸《星期日泰晤士报》于七月公布了一些电邮，它们形成于卡塔尔胜选之前的一段时间。这些电邮显示，在名声不佳的国际足联前大佬，穆罕默德·本·哈曼主持下，卡塔尔的申办行为是多么的慷慨。负责英格兰2018年世界杯申办工作的特里斯曼勋爵称，国际足联官员曾向他索贿。

既然这样英格兰成为埃克特的抨击对象却有些说不通。他说，英格兰配合了国际足联中害群之马的不当要求。卡塔尔虽然同样存在违规行为，但“总的说来，并未损害”竞争程序的“完整性”。但如果真是国际足联官员主动索贿，那英格兰就有些冤枉了。 俄罗斯同样逃过一劫，虽然调查人员未能接触到全部的申办文件，因为彼时使用的电脑已毁坏。