Misplaced Pages

#890109

104-441: The Garcia Report was an investigation produced by U.S. lawyer Michael J. Garcia into allegations of corruption in world football . On 17 July 2012, in the wake of announced anti-corruption reforms by Sepp Blatter , the president of the world association football governing body FIFA , the organization appointed Garcia as the chairman of the investigative chamber of FIFA Ethics Committee , while German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert

208-401: A round-robin tournament in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. This means that a total of six matches are played within a group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within

312-464: A whitewash ." Hours after the Eckert summary was released, Garcia himself criticized it for being "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions," while declaring his intention to appeal to FIFA's Appeal Committee. On December 16, 2014, FIFA's Appeal Committee dismissed Garcia's appeal against the Eckert summary as "not admissible." FIFA also stated that Eckert's summary

416-412: A whitewash ." Hours after the Eckert summary was released, Garcia himself criticized it for being "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions," while declaring his intention to appeal to FIFA's Appeal Committee. On 16 December 2014, FIFA's Appeal Committee dismissed Garcia's appeal against the Eckert summary as "not admissible." FIFA also stated that Eckert's summary

520-426: A "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition for nations, at the 1920 Summer Olympics , contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, and won by Belgium . Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928 . Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924

624-465: A 42-page summary of his findings after reviewing Garcia's report. The summary cleared both Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing during the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, leaving Russia and Qatar free to stage their respective World Cups. FIFA welcomed "the fact that a degree of closure has been reached," while the Associated Press wrote that the Eckert summary "was denounced by critics as

728-405: A 42-page summary of his findings after reviewing Garcia's report. The summary cleared both Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing during the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, leaving Russia and Qatar free to stage their respective World Cups. FIFA welcomed "the fact that a degree of closure has been reached," while the Associated Press wrote that the Eckert summary "was denounced by critics as

832-459: A degree of closure has been reached", while the Associated Press wrote that the Eckert summary "was denounced by critics as a whitewash". Hours after the Eckert summary was released, Garcia himself criticized it for being "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions", while declaring his intention to appeal to the FIFA's Appeal Committee. There were several calls for

936-450: A dozen FIFA officials were made since that time, particularly on 29 May and 3 December. By the end of May 2015, a total of nine FIFA officials and five executives of sports and broadcasting markets had already been charged on corruption. At the time, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced he would relinquish his position in February 2016. On 4 June 2015, Chuck Blazer while co-operating with

1040-465: A form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. There have been occasions where

1144-517: A formula based on the FIFA World Rankings or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups. The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998 , constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. Each group plays

SECTION 10

#1732844333891

1248-443: A group. Since 1994 , three points have been awarded for a win , one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points). Considering six matches in a group each with three possible outcomes (win, draw, loss), there are 729 (= 3 ) possible final table outcomes for the 40 possible combinations of the four teams' points. However, 14 of the 40 points combinations (or 207 of the 729 possible outcomes) lead to ties between

1352-464: A limited amount of documents available for review", as the computers leased to the Russian team had been destroyed, and several email accounts were unable to be accessed. The Eckert summary was harsher on England and Australia, who had unsuccessful World Cup bids, finding "potentially problematic facts and circumstances" in their bids and stating that they had undermined the integrity of the bidding. England

1456-571: A paid connection to soccer in the previous four years, The Guardian wrote that "Garcia and Eckert are regarded as key independent figures from outside the so-called 'football family' who can help restore FIFA's credibility after bribery and vote-buying scandals." Upon their appointment, Garcia and Eckert were immediately tasked to investigate alleged illegal payments made by FIFA marketing company International Sports and Leisure (ISL) to former FIFA President João Havelange and former Executive Committee member Ricardo Teixeira , as well as to evaluate

1560-504: A particularly dark cloud because of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, allegations and criminal charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering to corrupt the issuing of media and marketing rights (rigged bids) for FIFA games, with FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $ 150 million over 24 years. In late May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a 47-count indictment with charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 people. Arrests of over

1664-604: A pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup . The 2002 FIFA World Cup , hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the first tournament with multiple hosts. South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010 . The 2014 FIFA World Cup was hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since Argentina 1978 , and

1768-408: A political matter so why not have more Africans? The competition is to bring all the people of all the world. If you don't give the possibility to participate, they don't improve." In October 2016, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 48-team World Cup in 2026. On 10 January 2017, FIFA confirmed the 2026 World Cup will have 48 finalist teams. By May 2015, the games were under

1872-533: A presentation by Domenico Scala , head of FIFA's audit and compliance committee and one of only six people to have seen the report at that time, FIFA's executive committee unanimously agreed to publish a "legally appropriate version" of the Garcia report, with parts redacted to preserve witness confidentiality. However, the Garcia Report will only be published after five ongoing ethics investigations started by Garcia into

1976-452: A revised format of the 2026 tournament, which features 12 groups of four teams each, with the top 8 third-placed teams joining the group winners and runners-up in a new round of 32. Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The locations were controversial because South America and Europe were by far the two centres of strength in football and travel between them required three weeks by boat. The decision to hold

2080-434: A week later, Eckert was quoted as saying that the investigation was only at "an interim stage" and that Garcia "can now continue investigating towards the final report". On 15 November 2014, German Football League president Reinhard Rauball warned that UEFA may quit FIFA if Garcia's report is not published in full, citing that "If this doesn't happen and the crisis is not resolved in a credible manner, you have to entertain

2184-452: A women's version, although a FIFA Women's Club World Cup has been proposed. The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is held biannually, including the year before each Women's World Cup. Both tournaments were awarded in a single bidding process on three occasions, with the U-20 tournament serving as a dress rehearsal for the larger competition each time ( 2010 , 2014 and 2018 ). From 1930 to 1970,

SECTION 20

#1732844333891

2288-430: Is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. On 10 January 2017, FIFA approved a new format, the 48-team World Cup (to accommodate more teams), which was to consist of 16 groups of three teams each, with two teams qualifying from each group, to form a round of 32 knockout stage, to be implemented by 2026. On 14 March 2023, FIFA approved

2392-491: Is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy only until the post-match celebration is finished. They are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original immediately afterwards. All members (players, coaches, and managers) of the top three teams receive medals with an insignia of the World Cup Trophy ; winners' (gold), runners-up' (silver), and third-place (bronze). In

2496-480: Is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder. The 2026 FIFA World Cup was chosen to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, marking the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations. The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held, with 48 teams playing 104 matches. Sixty matches will take place in

2600-449: Is the most prestigious association football competition in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. The viewership of the 2018 World Cup was estimated to be 3.57 billion, close to half of the global population, while the engagement with the 2022 World Cup was estimated to be 5 billion, with about 1.5 billion people watching the final match . Seventeen countries have hosted

2704-551: The Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA ), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930 , with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War . The reigning champions are Argentina , who won their third title at the 2022 tournament . The contest starts with the qualification phase , which takes place over

2808-544: The Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winning team. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde , but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970 , Brazil 's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983 and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by

2912-657: The 1906 Intercalated Games . After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been unsuccessful. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London , football became an official Olympic sport. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body,

3016-650: The 1936 Summer Olympics , but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup. The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 World Cup and all North and South American nations except Brazil and Cuba boycotted the 1938 tournament. Brazil was the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions, which Germany and Brazil sought to host, were cancelled due to World War II . The 1950 World Cup , held in Brazil ,

3120-426: The 2002 edition , fourth-place medals were awarded to hosts South Korea . Before the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals. Since 2006, winners of the competition are also awarded

3224-678: The Asian Football Confederation and the Confederation of African Football , two shared between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL , and a guaranteed place for the Oceania Football Confederation . Platini was clear about why he wanted to expand the World Cup. He said: "[The World Cup is] not based on the quality of the teams because you don't have the best 32 at the World Cup ;... but it's a good compromise. ... It's

Garcia Report - Misplaced Pages Continue

3328-707: The Caribbean Football Union 's region a position in the World Cup. In the edition of 25 October 2013 of the FIFA Weekly Blatter wrote that: "From a purely sporting perspective, I would like to see globalisation finally taken seriously, and the African and Asian national associations accorded the status they deserve at the FIFA World Cup. It cannot be that the European and South American confederations lay claim to

3432-656: The College of William & Mary , respectively. Garcia eventually decided to study law and graduated as valedictorian of the Albany Law School of Union University in 1989. After law school, Garcia practiced corporate law for a year at the Wall Street law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel . He then served as a law clerk for Judge Judith Kaye of the New York Court of Appeals from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 2001, Garcia

3536-603: The Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal , where he declined to prosecute Spitzer for violating the Mann Act , and the prosecution of several state politicians and city officials, such as former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and Democratic political fundraiser Norman Hsu . In the international domain, his office "successfully prosecuted corruption cases stemming from the United Nations oil-for-food scandal ." Garcia also led

3640-506: The FBI and the Swiss authorities admitted that he and the other members of FIFA's then-executive committee were bribed in order to promote the 1998 and 2010 World Cups. On 10 June 2015, Swiss authorities seized computer data from the offices of Sepp Blatter . The same day, FIFA postponed the bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in light of the allegations surrounding bribery in the awarding of

3744-761: The FIFA Executive Committee . The decision of host venues had previously taken place in December 2010. In May 2011, while before a British parliamentary inquiry, the former chairman of England's failed 2018 bid, David Triesman , accused FIFA executive committee members Jack Warner , Worawi Makudi , Nicolas Leoz and Ricardo Teixeira of requesting bribes from the English team in exchange for support. The parliamentary inquiry also received evidence from The Sunday Times that FIFA executive committee members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma were reportedly bribed with $ 1.5m by

3848-482: The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act , offshore tax shelters, and theft of trade secrets. On July 17, 2012, in the wake of announced anti-corruption reforms by Sepp Blatter , the president of the world association football governing body FIFA , the organization appointed U.S. lawyer Garcia as the chairman of the investigative chamber of FIFA Ethics Committee , while German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert

3952-674: The first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these in France was disputed, as the South American countries understood that the location would alternate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup . Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup , to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began

4056-453: The 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Then-secretary general Jérôme Valcke stated, "Due to the situation, I think it's nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being." On 28 October 2015, Blatter and FIFA VP Michel Platini, a potential candidate for presidency, were suspended for 90 days; both maintained their innocence in statements made to the news media. On 3 December 2015 two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested on suspicion of bribery in

4160-721: The Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service (2002), and the CIA 's Agency Seal Medallion (2002). Garcia was born in 1961 in the Woodhaven neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens and grew up in Valley Stream where he attended Valley Stream Central High School on Long Island . Originally intending to be a journalist, Garcia earned undergraduate and master's degrees in English literature from SUNY Binghamton and

4264-521: The Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, the highest reward presented by the U.S. Department of Justice . Garcia said the case "would define my career in Government service." In 1995, Garcia went to Manila in the Philippines to direct the investigation and prosecution of the terrorist conspiracy led by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to bomb 12 U.S. airliners flying from Asia to

Garcia Report - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-524: The FIFA , Sepp Blatter , the organisation appointed former United States Attorney Michael J. Garcia as chairman of the investigative branch of its Ethics Committee, while German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert was appointed as Chairman of the Ethics Committee's adjudication chamber. The reformed Ethics Committee was also given the power to retrospectively investigate old cases. As Garcia and Eckert fulfilled FIFA's statute of them or their families not having

4472-415: The FIFA's Appeal Committee dismissed Garcia's appeal against the Eckert summary as "not admissible". FIFA also stated that Eckert's summary was "neither legally binding nor appealable". A day later, Garcia resigned from his role as FIFA ethics investigator in protest of FIFA's conduct, citing a "lack of leadership" and lost confidence in the independence of Eckert from the FIFA. On 19 November 2014, following

4576-542: The Garcia report has been in the hands of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland since 19 November 2014. As part of the criminal proceedings the report may or may not be released. One day after Bild newspaper announced it had received a copy and intended to publish it, the FIFA released the full report on 27 June 2017. Michael J. Garcia Garcia previously served as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2003–2005), Acting Commissioner of

4680-430: The Garcia report to be released, including from FIFA Executive Committee members Jim Boyce , Jeffrey Webb and Sunil Gulati , as well as FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne and English Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore . Eckert, who was "surprised" by Garcia's response, refused to accede to calls to release the Garcia report, citing the "rights of confidentiality for continental law". Less than

4784-631: The Qatar team. The whistleblower who spoke to The Sunday Times , Phaedra Al Majid, retracted her allegations in July 2011. In December 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating alleged hacking into email accounts for England and the United States' World Cup bids. FIFA forbids bid teams to offer incentives to members of its executive committee and their relatives. Garcia subsequently expanded his investigation into

4888-464: The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (2002–2003), Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement (2001–2002), and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (1992–2001). For his work in a number of high-profile terrorism investigations and trials as Assistant U.S. Attorney, Garcia received two Attorney General 's Awards for Exceptional Service (1994, 1997),

4992-623: The United States . In 1996, Yousef and two other defendants were convicted of all counts. For his work on that case, Garcia received his second Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service. Garcia was assigned as one of the lead prosecutors in the case against four al-Qaeda operatives standing trial in New York for perpetrating the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania and Nairobi , Kenya , which killed more than 200 people. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all 302 counts for

5096-482: The World Cup, most recently Qatar , who hosted the 2022 event. The 2026 tournament will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host games in three World Cups. The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England . The first international tournament for nations,

5200-602: The behaviour of FIFA President Sepp Blatter in the affair. ISL had specialized in buying and selling broadcast rights to FIFA events such as World Cups on contracts worth millions of dollars. The case was closed on 30 April 2014 after an investigation by Garcia, with Eckert ruling that bribes had been paid by ISL between 1992 and 2000 to Havelange, Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz , then-President of CONMEBOL . As Havelange (honorary President of FIFA) and Leoz had already resigned from their posts earlier in April 2014, no "superfluous" further action

5304-410: The bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974 . The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory." This new trophy

SECTION 50

#1732844333891

5408-503: The competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium , France , Romania , and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total, 13 nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and the United States , who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history

5512-439: The country in retaliation for his role in the arrest and prosecution of Bout. In February 2009, Garcia joined the international law firm Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in the New York office of the firm's Litigation Practice Group. He led the Government, Regulatory and Internal Investigations practice for the firm's New York office. At Kirkland & Ellis, he was engaged in matters involving insider trading, export controls,

5616-599: The decision on the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 world cups to FIFA. Garcia, along with some members of the FIFA Executive Committee, called for the Garcia report to be published in full, excepting names redacted to protect whistleblowers. Garcia has said of FIFA that its "... investigation and adjudication process operates in most parts unseen and unheard...That's a kind of system which might be appropriate for an intelligence agency but not for an ethics compliance process in an international sports institution that serves

5720-487: The entire bidding process for the 2018 World Cup. Garcia's investigation allowed him to demand interviews with football officials, with those refusing subject to disciplinary action. Garcia was not able to interview Mohammed bin Hammam , the former FIFA vice-president, as Hammam is banned for life from football activity. Garcia's investigation remit extended solely to individuals who might have violated FIFA's code of ethics. Garcia

5824-683: The event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team ) won the gold medals . They repeated the feat at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm . With the Olympic event continuing to be a contest between amateur teams only, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament

5928-445: The event's inception in 1930, and a total of 80 national teams have competed. The trophy has been won by eight national teams. With five wins, Brazil is the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy , with four titles each; Argentina , with three titles; France and inaugural winner Uruguay , each with two titles; and England and Spain , with one title each. The World Cup

6032-419: The first defending champions to play qualifying matches. The final tournament format since 1998 has had 32 national teams competing over the course of a month in the host nations. There are two stages: the group stage, followed by the knockout stage. In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using

6136-402: The first vice chair of the museum's board. In March 2015, the board of El Museo elected Garcia as chairman. His term as chair began on June 3 of that year. Awards and honors Garcia has received include: FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup , often called the World Cup , is an international association football competition among the senior men's national teams of the members of

6240-402: The following individuals are concluded; for Ángel María Villar , Michel D'Hooghe , Worawi Makudi , Franz Beckenbauer and Harold Mayne-Nicholls . Meanwhile, the decision not to revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote was reaffirmed by the FIFA after Scala said that two independent legal experts he consulted supported that decision. Walter De Gregorio, in a press conference on 27 May 2015, stated that

6344-530: The four defendants. For his work on that case, Garcia received the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service and the CIA's Agency Seal Medallion for his efforts coordinating with the intelligence community. From August 2001 to November 2002, Garcia served as the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement in the U.S. Department of Commerce . In that role, "he

SECTION 60

#1732844333891

6448-522: The host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament . The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides, especially in the midst of the Great Depression . As such, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of

6552-450: The hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as was the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups , which were awarded to Russia and Qatar , with Qatar becoming the first Middle Eastern country to host the tournament. For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament was rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host

6656-520: The inaugural British Home Championship , took place in 1884 and included games between England, Scotland, Wales , and Ireland . As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the start of the 20th century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics ; however, the International Olympic Committee has retroactively upgraded their status to official events, as well as

6760-570: The majority of the berths at the World Cup." Those two remarks suggested to commentators that Blatter could be putting himself forward for re-election to the FIFA Presidency. Following the magazine's publication, Blatter's would-be opponent for the FIFA Presidency, UEFA President Michel Platini , responded that he intended to extend the World Cup to 40 national associations, increasing the number of participants by eight. Platini said that he would allocate an additional berth to UEFA , two each to

6864-451: The men's football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players. Women's football made its Olympic debut in 1996 . The FIFA Confederations Cup was a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by

6968-446: The number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams. The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs . For example,

7072-603: The plan but, in total, the idea is supported by 166 of the 210 member associations of FIFA. An equivalent tournament for women's football , the FIFA Women's World Cup , was first held in 1991 in China . The women's tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men's, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991. Men's football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports,

7176-454: The preceding three years to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over the course of about a month. The host nation(s) automatically qualify for the group stage of the tournament. The competition is scheduled to expand to 48 teams, starting with the 2026 tournament . As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 22 final tournaments have been held since

7280-436: The previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil, in the match called " Maracanazo " (Portuguese: Maracanaço ). In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978 , 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India , Scotland , and Turkey withdrew, leaving

7384-470: The prosecution of the Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout , known as the "Merchant of Death." On March 6, 2008, Garcia announced the arrest of Bout in Bangkok , Thailand as "the culmination of a long-term D.E.A. undercover investigation that spanned the globe" and said "it marks the end of the reign of one of the world's most wanted arms traffickers." On April 13, 2013, Russia blacklisted Garcia from entering

7488-411: The public and is the subject of intense public scrutiny." On 13 November 2014, Hans-Joachim Eckert released a 42-page summary of his findings after reviewing Michael Garcia's report; the summary cleared both Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing during the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, leaving Russia and Qatar free to stage their respective World Cups. The summary noted that Russia provided "only

7592-412: The quarter-finalists in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2018 were all from Europe or South America and so were the finalists of all tournaments so far. Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds. 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup . A record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup . In October 2013, Sepp Blatter spoke of guaranteeing

7696-447: The question of whether you are still in good hands with FIFA". On 18 November 2014, acting on the recommendation of Eckert, the FIFA lodged a criminal complaint with the Swiss judiciary relating to the "possible misconduct of individual persons in connection with the awarding of the hosting rights of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup", specifically regarding "international transfers of assets with connections to Switzerland". On 16 December 2014,

7800-462: The report will be published, in the spring of 2015, and the report had only been seen by four people. Eckert later announced that his overview of the Garcia report with Garcia's main findings, summary, conclusions and recommendations will be published by the middle of November 2014. Eckert has said that "Many won't like what I am going to tell them" in reference to his forthcoming judgement on the report. Eckert will only judge individuals, and will leave

7904-541: The right to wear the FIFA Champions Badge , up until the time at which the winner of the next competition is decided. Since the second World Cup in 1934 , qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. They are held within the six FIFA continental zones ( Africa , Asia , North and Central America and Caribbean , South America , Oceania , and Europe ), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides

8008-714: The same Zurich hotel where seven FIFA officials had been arrested in May. An additional 16 indictments by the US Department of Justice were announced on the same day. A biennial World Cup plan was first proposed by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation at the 71st FIFA Congress on 21 May 2021 and prominently backed by former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and national federations in Africa and Asia. Continental confederations such as UEFA and CONMEBOL are not on board with

8112-420: The second and third places. In such case, the ranking among these teams is determined by: The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the round of 16 (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This

8216-545: The second largest investigative agency in the U.S. government following the FBI . On January 15, 2004, Garcia announced the government had busted a Belarus-based international child pornography ring, including the arrest of more than 30 people on federal charges relating to child pornography and money laundering. On March 19, 2005, Garcia announced a record $ 11 million civil immigration settlement with Walmart for its use of several hundred undocumented janitorial workers. Overlapping with this period, from 2003 to 2006, Garcia

8320-427: The successful prosecution of public-corruption and terrorism-related cases." In notable white-collar criminal cases, he "obtained guilty pleas in a fraud case against former executives of collapsed financial firm Refco Inc., and successfully prosecuted both large-scale insider trading at Wall Street firms and cases of stock-option backdating." He also oversaw "a series of high-profile public corruption cases," including

8424-557: The thieves. After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy , was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga . The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while

8528-571: The tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title. Prior to the Lipton competition, from 1876 to 1904, games that were considered to be the " football world championship " were meetings between leading English and Scottish clubs, such as the 1895 game between Sunderland A.F.C. and the Heart of Midlothian F.C. , which Sunderland won. In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as

8632-537: The tournament with 13 teams. Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: United States , semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba , quarter-finalists in 1938; North Korea , quarter-finalists in 1966 ; and Mexico , quarter-finalists in 1970 . The tournament

8736-401: The tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament . However, the policy of continental rotation did not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018 . This

8840-542: The winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup . From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations receive automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil , winners in 2002 , were

8944-768: The winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country. The first edition took place in 1992 and the last edition was played in 2017 . In March 2019, FIFA confirmed that the tournament would no longer be active owing to an expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021. FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football ( FIFA U-20 World Cup , FIFA U-17 World Cup , FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup , FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup ), club football ( FIFA Club World Cup ), and football variants such as futsal ( FIFA Futsal World Cup ) and beach soccer ( FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup ). The latter three do not have

9048-444: Was "neither legally binding nor appealable." A day later, Garcia resigned from his role as FIFA ethics investigator in protest of FIFA's conduct, citing a "lack of leadership" and lost confidence in the independence of Eckert from FIFA. In June 2015, Swiss authorities claimed the report was of "little value". Garcia was appointed as associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals by Governor Andrew Cuomo on January 20, 2016. He

9152-455: Was "neither legally binding nor appealable." A day later, Garcia resigned from his role as FIFA ethics investigator in protest of FIFA's conduct, citing a "lack of leadership" and lost confidence in the independence of Eckert from FIFA. In June 2015, Swiss authorities claimed the report was of "little value". On 17 July 2012, in the wake of announced anti-corruption reforms by the President of

9256-576: Was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup , and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland , an amateur side from County Durham , to represent England instead. West Auckland won

9360-586: Was a prosecutor with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York . In that role, he was intimately involved in a number of high-profile terrorism investigations and trials. Within months of joining the Office, Garcia was assigned to the trial team prosecuting four defendants for perpetrating the 1993 World Trade Center bombing . In the ensuing trial, the four defendants were convicted on all counts. For his work on that case, Garcia received

9464-533: Was also Vice President of the Americas for Interpol , the international police organization. While vice president, he served on Interpol's executive committee, the body charged with overseeing the budget and strategic direction of the agency. Garcia served as the Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from September 2005 to December 1, 2008. According to The Wall Street Journal , under his tenure his "office became well known for

9568-549: Was appointed as the chairman of the Ethics Committee's adjudication chamber. In August 2012, Garcia declared his intention to investigate the bidding process and decision to respectively award the right to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup to Russia and Qatar by the FIFA Executive Committee . Garcia delivered his subsequent 350-page report in September 2014, and Eckert then announced that it would not be made public for legal reasons. On November 13, 2014, Eckert released

9672-493: Was appointed as the chairman of the Ethics Committee's adjudication chamber. In August 2012, Garcia declared his intention to investigate the bidding process and decision to respectively award the right to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup to Russia and Qatar by the FIFA Executive Committee . Garcia delivered his subsequent 350-page report in September 2014, and Eckert then announced that it would not be made public for legal reasons. On 13 November 2014, Eckert released

9776-554: Was confirmed by the New York State Senate and took the oath of office on February 8, 2016. In 2017, Adam Goldman of The New York Times reported Garcia was viewed favorably by some FBI agents as he was considered to replace James Comey . Garcia has been on the board of trustees of El Museo del Barrio , a Manhattan museum specializing in Latin American and Caribbean art, since 2010. Since 2013, he has served as

9880-500: Was described as behaving improperly when trying to win the support of then- CONCACAF head Jack Warner . Australia was criticized for the links between its bid and its funding of football development in African countries, and that two Australia consultants "violated the bidding and ethics rules". The bid teams for Japan and South Korea were also criticized for distributing "gifts" and giving the appearance of "a conflict or an offer of benefits" respectively. The FIFA welcomed "the fact that

9984-627: Was expanded to 24 teams in 1982 , and then to 32 in 1998 , allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. Since then, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, with several having reached the quarter-finals: Mexico , quarter-finalists in 1986 ; Cameroon , quarter-finalists in 1990 ; South Korea , finishing in fourth place in 2002 ; Senegal , along with USA , both quarter-finalists in 2002; Ghana , quarter-finalists in 2010; Costa Rica , quarter-finalists in 2014; and Morocco , finishing in fourth place in 2022. European and South American teams continue to dominate, e.g.,

10088-417: Was expected to name individuals who refused to speak to him in his report. Garcia has no ability to subpoena people to speak to him or to ask internet service providers for documents. Garcia was assisted in his production of the report by Cornel Borbély , the deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee. Borbély produced the section of the report that investigated Russia, as Garcia

10192-505: Was sanctioned from entering the country, and the United States, to prevent a potential conflict of interest as Garcia is American. Russia was the only bidding country which Garcia failed to travel to in the course of his investigations. Garcia delivered his 350-page report in September 2014, and it was subsequently announced by Hans-Joachim Eckert, the head of the adjudicatory arm of FIFA's ethics committee, that it would not be made public for legal reasons. Eckert said that only his judgement on

10296-574: Was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final , Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 93,000 spectators in Montevideo , and became the first nation to win the World Cup. After the creation of the World Cup, FIFA and the IOC disagreed over the status of amateur players; football was dropped from the 1932 Summer Olympics . After the IOC and FIFA worked out their differences, Olympic football returned at

10400-471: Was taken. In contrast, Blatter was exonerated of "criminal or ethical misconduct", but was also described as "clumsy" and it was questioned whether he "knew or should have known over the years before the bankruptcy of ISL that ISL had made bribes to other FIFA officials". In August 2012, Garcia declared his intention to investigate the bidding process and decision to award the right to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup to Russia and Qatar respectively by

10504-423: Was the first occasion where consecutive World Cups were held outside Europe. The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Council. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a "Hosting Agreement" from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives

10608-431: Was the first to include British football associations. Scotland , England , Wales , and Northern Ireland had withdrawn from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football. The teams rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay , who had boycotted

10712-653: Was the start of FIFA's professional era, and is the reason why Uruguay is allowed to wear 4 stars . Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet as the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as

10816-576: Was the top federal enforcer of dual-use export control laws." Garcia served as Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from December 2002 to February 2003. In that position, he led the transition of the agency into the Department of Homeland Security . From March 2003 to 2005, Garcia served in the Department of Homeland Security as the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),

#890109