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Fifa: Qatar and Russia bids given thumbs up – but English FA could face further action

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Fifa's investigation into Fifa's handling of Qatar's successful bid to host the World Cup 2022 has been cleared by..er… Fifa. 

Fifa's ethics committee, headed by Joachim Eckert, acknowledged there had been a “significant lack of transparency” in Qatar's bid. Computers used for Russia's 2018 bid were destroyed.
 
But while there was evidence of some wrongdoing within the 11 nations bidding to host the two tournaments, Eckhert said they were “far from reaching any threshold that would require returning to the bidding process, let alone reopening it”. 
 
Whistleblower evidence claiming illicit payments were made to African voters was dismissed. Payments by Mohamed bin Hammam to other African officials and Fifa vice president Jack Warner were judged to be for the disgraced Qatari's personal political interests, not the 2022 bid. 
 
The English FA, meanwhile, has been accused of behaving improperly by trying to “curry favour” with Warner. 
 
A 42-page summary of the report claims that England's bid team tried to help “a person of interest to him” find a part-time job in the UK; let the under-20s squad from Warner's home team Trinidad and Tobago train in the UK; and sponsored a gala dinner for the Caribbean Football Union at a cost of $55,000. 
 
Individuals within the England bid team could now face action. 
 
Twitter has been unsurprisingly vocal on the matter. Responses range from the funny to the more serious. Here are some of the highlights:

 

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