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).
FIFA Club World Cup attempted to win their first FIFA Club World Cup (a feat never done by any club outside of Europe and South America), but were denied by Real Madrid, who won 4-2 in extra time, thanks to a hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo. The victory saw Real Madrid win their second FIFA Club World Cup, and their fifth International title (counting the three Intercontinental Cups Real Madrid had won prior to 2014). As early as late 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested an initial expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and the reschedule to June to