Fifa gags graft report

Fifa is facing accusations of a cover-up after it emerged that a report into allegations of corruption in two World Cup bids will never be published.

The two-year investigation into the bidding around the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has resulted in a 350-page report and 200000 pages of evidence.

But Hans Joachim-Eckert, the chairman of Fifa's ethics committee's adjudicatory chamber, has said only he and his deputy will ever see the report. Even Fifa president Sepp Blatter, and his 27 executive members, will not see it.

Fifa was under pressure to publish the report and be more transparent, including demands from its author, investigator Michael Garcia.

There were hopes that the £6-million investigation would provide a definitive answer to allegations of bribery surrounding the decision to award Qatar the 2020 World Cup.

Accusations centre on millions of pounds allegedly paid by Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam to football officials around the world.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, told the London Sunday Times: "I am absolutely horrified. The one thing we've always been told by Fifa is that there would be a proper investigation and we should wait for the Garcia report.

"But if the Garcia report is going to be buried so that we have no idea what the conclusions are, it will leave the reputation of Fifa in pieces. It confirms what we have long suspected, that all Fifa is interested in is burying this whole matter and sweeping the evidence under the carpet."

On Friday, Joachim-Eckert, a Munich judge, said: "An obligation of secrecy applies to all members of the ethics committee and we will comply with this.

"You cannot expect anything to be disclosed from this report."

Garcia said: "What we need at this point is more transparency into the process . into charges, into decisions, into the basis for those decisions and into the facts.

"There could be little support from a public that was so little informed. The more that is public and the more people can see what was done and disagree with what was done, the more can be done to resolve those issues so the organisation can move on."

Lord Triesman, the former FA chairman, who first led the England bid to host the 2018 World Cup, said: "Fifa has a very long-standing culture of misbehaviour and complete secrecy so in a way it's not surprising that it won't reveal the contents of the Garcia report."

He said the "clearest test" of whether Fifa is ready to reform is the publication of the report.

"Other than that, the culture will simply go on as it has done now for decades," he said.

Roland Buchel, a member of the Swiss parliament, who warned Fifa that it could lose its advantageous tax status if it does not reform, said:

"They have been talking now for three years about transparency and they are simply not doing it. They talk about ethics but don't take any action."