FIFA has lodged a criminal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland concerning ‘possible misconduct of individual persons’ involving ‘international transfers of assets with connections to Switzerland […] which merit examination by the criminal prosecution authorities.’ The allegations concern the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee report into the awarding of the hosting rights to the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, which has been handed to the Attorney General’s office.

In an interview on FIFA.com, Hans Joachim Eckert, Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, said that he had given his recommendation that FIFA lodge a criminal complaint “at more or less the same time” as the publication of his statement concerning the findings of the Investigatory Chamber.

Eckert has previously said that FIFA cannot publish Garcia’s report in full, as it could face legal action for violating its own Code of Ethics. “If FIFA were to publish the report, we would be violating our own association law as well as state law,” said FIFA President Sepp Blatter in an interview.