FIFA file 'criminal complaint' post two-year investigation into alleged WC corruption bid

Switzerland's attorney general has received a criminal complaint from FIFA after a two-year investigation into possible World Cup corruption, individually linked to awarding hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

However, FIFA said that the move does not impact negatively on the decision to name Russia and Qatar as hosts. FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert maintains that there is not enough evidence to question the entire bidding process.

Alexandra Wrage, who quit the world governing body's independent governance committee last year, has criticised the latest move, The BBC reported.

Wrage said that it raises more questions than answers. He added that the public are being asked to accept that there is enough evidence for a criminal complaint to be lodged in Switzerland but there isn't enough to discredit the World Cup bid, which just doesn't seem to make any sense.

Last week, Eckert released a 42-page report that cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing, confirming their status as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively.

That report, which has also been handed over to the Swiss attorney general, drew criticism from Michael Garcia, the American lawyer who spent two years investigating allegations of corruption.

Garcia claimed it contained numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations and said that he would be appealing to FIFA.

FIFA, meanwhile, continues to reject calls for Garcia's full findings to be published, citing their own violation of law as the reason behind it.