AFC pledges cooperation with Qatar in hosting 2022 World Cup

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Thursday said it would do all it can to ensure a smooth 2022 World Cup set to be hosted by Qatar, after FIFA released the Garcia report relating to alleged corruption in World Cup bids of 2018 and 2022.

"The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has noted the conclusions in the recently published FIFA report into the bidding processes for the FIFA World Cups of 2018 and 2022.

"In this regard, the AFC is now looking forward to the continued preparation work to deliver a FIFA World Cup in 2022 which is a showcase not just for the game in Qatar but for football throughout Asia," the AFC said in a statement.

"The AFC will support Qatar throughout this process which will lead to a historic FIFA World Cup in 2022 -- the first-ever in the Middle East and Arab World."

FIFA on Tuesday released the full contents of the Garcia report that examined alleged corruption in bidding for hosting rights of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, one day after it was leaked to German newspaper Bild.

The 2014 report by independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia was once expected to be explosive and became a holy grail for FIFA critics who thought the votes that gave the World Cups to Russia and Qatar could be rerun.

--IANS

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