There are some who still cannot digest the fact that Russia is on the verge of hosting a FIFA World Cup. Sections of the British press, in particular, have been accused by Russian journalists of running a hate campaign against Russia's plans to hold the 2018 edition. Not without reason.
Besides the diplomatic feud between two countries over the alleged poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in London, England has one long-standing grudge against the Russians—losing the bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Both countries were neck-to-neck in the race to win the hosting rights in 2010.
In December that year, at a gala event, Sepp Blatter announced that the FIFA executive committee had elected Russia as the winner. There were screams of joy from the Russian delegation, which included Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and current CEO of the World Cup LOC, Alexey Sorokin. The British were left red-faced.
Russia had been extensively campaigning since 2009 for the rights to host the mega event, at the behest of President Vladimir Putin. The country had chalked out a plan that included spending $10 billion (later rose to $12 billion) on infrastructure development and stadium building.
FIFA's decision came as a shock to many because Russian sports was synonymous with racism, hooliganism and doping allegations. Other accusations thrown at the country were those of homophobia, a questionable foreign policy and near-dictatorial style of governance.
Compared to that, the other joint contenders like Spain and Portugal and the Netherlands and Belgium seemed better off to host a global event. Besides, Russia was not a footballing nation, in the strictest sense, having qualified only for two World Cups since the Soviet Union broke up.
Yet, for all the disbelief that followed Russia's victory, the strongest feelings were reserved for Qatar's 2022 winning bid, which was announced on the same night. Everything about the two bids stank of foul play, and there were cries for an investigation.
Michael Garcia was appointed chairman of the investigation branch of FIFA's Ethics Committee, on July 2012. His was an appointment that followed accusations of corruption in the footballing body. A month later, the American attorney announced his plan to thoroughly investigate the two bids that took place in 2010.
Garcia became an overnight hero. People looked to him to uncover the deep dark secret of the questionable winning bids, and to clear the air once and for all. After two years of investigations, he submitted a 350-page report to the ethics committee.
But, only a 42-page summary of the report was made public by Hans-Joachim Eckert, the chairman of the adjudication chamber of the ethics committee, citing legal reasons. It had cleared Russia and Qatar of any illegal actions. Garcia insisted there was more in the report, but Eckert refused to release the rest. Garcia resigned from his post in protest, and the suspicions grew stronger.
A copy of Garcia's report was shared with the Attorney General of Switzerland, who pointed out that there was reasonable evidence of underhand dealings with connections in Switzerland. It turned out to be one of the triggers for the uncovering of the now-infamous corruption scandal of 2015, which resulted in an overhaul of the FIFA leadership. More than half of the FIFA executive committee members who voted in 2010 for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup were banned or indicted, but not because of the bids.
Despite the overhaul, the full report had not been made public until 2017. When FIFA finally released the unabridged document, it turned out to be a damp squib. There was barely anything noteworthy, nor was there anything that indicated any dirty work on FIFA's part.
It was learnt that Vladimir Putin had held meetings in his country with six members of the voting committee. Garcia's report suggested that it was a bad move by FIFA to conduct bids for two World Cups at the same time as it was vulnerable to collusion. But he had some strong words for Sepp Blatter.
“As head of FIFA, President Blatter bears some responsibility for a flawed process that engendered deep public scepticism, and for presiding over an executive committee whose culture of entitlement contributed to many of the issues this report identified,” he wrote.
The report had cleared Russia of any obvious wrongdoing, but it was later argued that Garcia, who had visited all the countries that bid for the two World Cups, had not visited Russia, and did not have enough evidence to absolve the country of buying its votes.
We may never know what really went on behind the two winning bids, but Russia certainly has a lot to prove this summer.