2015 FIFA corruption case account. FIFA commissioned former United States Attorney Michael J. Garcia to investigate and report on the bidding processes behind the awarding of the 2018 FIFA World Cup to Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar. In November 2014, FIFA made a copy of Garcia's report available to the Attorney General of Switzerland, who then stated that there were "grounds for suspicion that, in isolated cases, international transfers of assets with connections to Switzerland took place which merit examination by the criminal prosecution authorities". Sepp Blatter had been president of FIFA since 1998 (until his removal in December 2015).
2026 FIFA World Cup of collusion between the two teams playing in the last round of the group stage will increase compared with four-team groups (where simultaneous kick-offs have been employed). One suggestion by president Infantino is that group matches that end in draws will be decided by penalty shootouts. On March 30, 2017, the Bureau of the FIFA Council (composed of the FIFA president and the presidents of each of the six confederations) proposed a slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The recommendation was submitted for the ratification by the FIFA Council. On May 9, 2017, two days before the 67th