World

Fifa report finds Australia 'violated' World Cup bidding rules

November 14, 2014 6:21 pm

Australia’s conduct in its 2022 bid to stage the football World Cup has been criticised for attempts to divert government money to influence votes.

A Fifa report found Australia’s bidding consultants appeared to have “violated the bidding and ethics rules”.

It also accused Australian officials of attempting to conceal “certain key relationships” in the bidding process.

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The report also criticised the English Football Association but cleared Russia and Qatar of corruption allegations.

But since being released on Thursday, Fifa’s report has been heavily criticised – most notably by Michael Garcia, the lawyer who investigated those claims of wrongdoing.

Fifa launched its inquiry into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups after a number of corruption allegations were made after voting took place in 2010.

Russia won the right to host the 2018 tournament, beating England and joint bids by the Netherlands and Belgium, and Spain and Portugal.

Qatar was awarded the 2022 event, edging out Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

The Australian government spent about A$46m (£26m; $40m) for the country’s 2022 World Cup bid but received only one vote.