The American lawyer who led the investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process has resigned from the Fifa ethics committee in protest over the handling of his findings.
The American lawyer cited a “lack of leadership” at the top of football’s world governing body.
Garcia said he lost confidence in the independence of German judge Joachim Eckert, an ethics committee colleague.
The former US attorney resigned a day after the Fifa appeals panel rejected his challenge of Eckert’s summary of the confidential 430-page investigation dossier, the BBC reports.
Mr Garcia said the Eckert summary contained “numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions”.
But the Appeal committee concluded that the Eckert summary could not be appealed and that therefore the Garcia complaint was “not admissable’.
UEFA President Michel Platini said: “We wanted all transparency but this is a new failure for Fifa.”
The head of European football spoke out as Garcia resigned a day after Fifa’s appeals panel rejected his challenge of Eckert’s summary of his report.
“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,” said Garcia.
Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup, while Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament
