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MELBOURNE — FIFA’s governance of world football is a “farce” and Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert’s statement summarising an 18-month probe into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups is “high comedy”, according to the Australian whistle-blower discredited in the statement.

Bonita Mersiades, the head of communications for Australia’s 2022 bid, gave evidence to the probe’s lead investigator Michael Garcia about her concerns with her country’s bid but the statement questioned her “reliability” and dismissed all her information.

Another whistle-blower for Qatar’s 2022 bid, identified by Mersiades as Phaedra Al Majid, the bid’s former international media officer, was also dismissed in the statement as unreliable and her information excluded.

The statement details a “prima facie case” that two of Australia’s bid consultants violated the bidding and ethics rules, and raises “indications” that Australia’s bid team had attempted to divert funds earmarked for development projects in Africa to countries with ties to voting FIFA executive members.

Mersiades told Reuters that those details were derived from the evidence she had shared with Garcia which was, in a bizarre contradiction, dismissed out of hand by the statement.

“If you read the subsequent paragraphs it seems to be presenting the very issues that we spoke about, so I’m not quite sure what it meant,” she said in an interview by phone on Saturday.

“Is this Mike Garcia’s view or is it Judge Eckert’s or is it some sort of work-shopped report from FIFA? I think as we’re dealing with FIFA you have to take all of those possible answers into account.

“It’s surprising but I can only repeat that when a report from FIFA singles out two whistle-blowers... and the fact that they haven’t singled out anyone else, you have to ask why.

“I don’t know the answer. The fact we’re having this conversation, obviously it sticks out like a sore thumb to everyone.”

Eckert said in the statement there were no grounds to reopen the bidding process which led to Russia being given the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 finals.

Three hours later former US prosecutor Garcia, who led the investigation over an 18-month period, said the statement had misrepresented his 430-page report and that he would take the case to the FIFA appeal committee.

“The fact that you have a summary report put out by a judge, which then the person investigating is appealing against it — although I’m not quite sure who he is appealing to — this organisation is obviously one that just can’t run anything other than the World Cup,” Mersiades said.

“It’s an organisation that in terms of governance is just a farce. There’s no other word for it.

“The only people that come out well in that summary report by Eckert is FIFA. [It says] they got their decisions right in respect to Qatar and Russia and there’s even a sentence and a reference that Sepp Blatter ran a wonderful process.

“It’s almost like high comedy.”

Personality clashes

Mersiades, who left Australia’s bid team in early 2010, would not comment on allegations of improprieties in Australia’s bid, saying she was bound by a confidentiality agreement which was only waived when talking to Garcia.

However, she said her departure from Australia’s football governing body Football Federation Australia (FFA), was because of “personality clashes” with the international consultants employed for the bid.

“[It was] because the international consultants wanted me to go... The international consultants didn’t want me to be there,” she said, adding that she had raised “too many questions” about their work.

The FFA has denied any wrongdoing in the bid.

Mersiades said she had spoken to the Qatar “whistle-blower” Majid and she had reacted similarly to the statement as herself. Mersiades hoped Eckert’s statement wouldn’t discourage other potential whistle-blowers from coming forward.

“I think fundamentally you should always try to do what you, yourself think is right,” she said.

“I’m a pretty optimistic person. I know that some people think it’s a bit like tilting at windmills, but I hope that some time in my lifetime FIFA is reformed.

“And I passionately believe that the only people who can do that now are governments and sponsors.

“Clearly it’s not going to change with [president] Sepp Blatter at the top.

“He doesn’t understand the need for it, part of what all of this protects is him and the structures he has built around himself. It needs change from the top and someone with the appropriate authority and muscle to come in and make it happen.”

BERLIN — Cristiano Ronaldo became the European Championships’ all-time top scorer by giving Portugal a 1-0 victory over Armenia, while Germany could only beat Gibraltar 4-0 as its World Cup victory hangover continued on Friday.

Portugal captain Ronaldo broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute to take his tally across Euro finals and qualifying to 23 goals. Denmark’s Jon Dahl Tomasson and Turkey’s Hakan Sukur had previously scored 22 goals each.

Germany was looking for a high score against Gibraltar, a territory of just 30,000 people which is playing its first qualifying tournament and had already lost 7-0 to both Ireland and Poland in Group D.

However, there were whistles from some fans at full-time after watching the World Cup titleholders labour against a defensively set-up side made up mostly of amateurs.

Convincing in Brazil during the summer, Germany had been held to a 1-1 draw by Ireland and beaten 2-0 by Poland in its two previous Euro 2016 qualifiers. It also lost 4-2 to Argentina in a friendly repeat of the World Cup final in September.

Elsewhere, Greece slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat at home to the Faroe Islands and Denmark came from behind to beat Serbia 3-1. There were qualifying wins for Poland, Scotland, Romania and Hungary.

In London, Teofilo “Teo” Gutierrez headed in a late goal as Colombia came from behind to beat the United States 2-1 in a friendly.

Here’s a roundup of action from Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifying games:

Group I

Ronaldo’s winner against Armenia meant Portugal stayed one point behind group leader Denmark. The Real Madrid star struck from close range following a goalmouth scramble.

Nicklas Bendtner scored twice as Denmark came from a goal down to beat Serbia 3-1 in Belgrade. The match was played in an empty Partizan Stadium because of incidents in a qualifier between Serbia and Albania last month. Serbia was penalised by UEFA for pitch skirmishes involving players and fans over an Albanian flag that was flown above the stadium by a drone.

Serbia winger Zoran Tosic opened the scoring with a low strike from 12 metres in the fourth minute.

But Bendtner equalised from close range in the 60th minute before centreback Simon Kjaer gave the visitors the lead two minutes later by heading in a free kick from Christian Eriksen. Bendtner made it 3-1 in the 85th minute.

Serbia coach Dick Advocaat was quoted by UEFA’s website: “This is our first terrible match since I became the manager. If someone should be blamed then it’s me. And, yes, I will think about resigning.”

France, which has already qualified as the host of Euro 2016, drew 1-1 with Albania in Rennes.

Albania defender Mergim Mavraj stunned the hosts with a header in the 40th minute. But France substitute Antoine Griezmann salvaged a draw by cutting inside to fire into the bottom corner in the 73rd minute. 

Group D 

Thomas Mueller scored twice as Germany got its Euro 2016 qualifying campaign back on track with an unconvincing 4-0 win over Gibraltar.

Mueller opened the scoring in the 12th minute and claimed his second 17 minutes later. Mario Goetze made it 3-0 in the 38th, before an own goal from Yogan Santos completed the scoring in the 67th minute.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said beforehand he wanted a result to reflect his side’s status as the World Cup winners and he started with a very attacking line-up and just three defenders.

The home side dominated the game but found it hard to penetrate the visitors’ stubborn defending, especially in the second half.

Liam Walker almost scored for Gibraltar with an audacious effort from the sideline just before the interval, only to be denied by a great save from Manuel Neuer.

Germany remains three points behind Group D leader Poland, which won 4-0 in Georgia thanks to second half goals from Kamil Glik, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Sebastian Mila and Arkadiusz Milik.

Shaun Maloney’s 75th-minute strike was enough for Scotland to beat Ireland 1-0 in Glasgow, moving the Scots level on points with Ireland and Germany.

Group F 

Greece continued its disastrous run in qualifying with a humiliating 1-0 defeat to the Faroe Islands, while Northern Ireland surrendered its lead in Group F to Romania.

The result in Greece is almost certain to prompt the dismissal of coach Claudio Ranieri, who hasn’t won a game since taking over in the summer and has now lost three straight at home.

Greek Football Association president Giorgos Sarris has called an emergency board meeting and said he took “full responsibility for the most unfortunate selection of this coach”. Sarris pledged to make changes “so that the national team never again has such a shameful evening”.

The Faroe Islanders, winning only their third European qualifier in 19 years, celebrated after the four minutes of injury time were up. Several of them in tears as they were clapped by Greek fans at Karaiskaki Stadium in Piraeus.

The remote archipelago of 50,000 inhabitants is ranked 187th among 208 nations in FIFA, while Greece is ranked 18th.

Joan Edmundsson scored in the 61st minute, firing in a ball that fell favourably in front of Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

In Bucharest, Romania looked rejuvenated under coach Anghel Iordanescu, returning for his third spell at the national team, fighting hard to beat Northern Ireland 2-0. Paul Papp scored twice in six minutes in the second half, finally beating goalkeeper Roy Carroll who had been key to his country’s opening run of three wins.

There was a late winner at Budapest’s Groupama Arena, where Hungary’s Zoltan Gera scored in the 84th minute to beat Finland 1-0 and claim third place.

AMMAN — Jordan head coach Ray Wilkins remained winless as South Korea edged the Kingdom 1-0 in a friendly match in Amman on Friday in preparations for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.  Korea midfielder Han Kyo-wan headed in the winner at King Abdullah Stadium handing head coach Uli Stielike his second victory in his first three matches for South Korea. Wilkins was tasked with being the head coach in September, but is yet to taste victory in his three matches at the helm. Jordan is to play Estonia in a friendly match on Tuesday.

AMMAN — All roads lead south next week when the 2014 Kumho Jordan National Speed Test Championship reaches a dramatic finale at the sixth round taking place on the streets of Aqaba, according to a statement from Jordan Motorsport.

The event is set to bring the 2014 motor sport season to a spectacular conclusion, with over 60 drivers, including many from outside of Jordan, bringing the Red Sea resort to standstill on November 21.

Thousands of fans expected to line the streets are in for a real treat with Jordan speed kings Mohammed Tayseer and Rami Kaghado going head to head for the title.

Tayseer came back into the championship by winning the last round in Madaba, and with championship leader Kaghado finishing fourth it means the title will be decided in Aqaba.

“We are set for a thrilling finish to what has been a fantastic year of motor sport in Jordan,” Jordan Motorsport CEO Othman Nassif was quoted as saying in the statement.

“We have enjoyed exciting championships for rallying, carting, drifting and now we are all set for a dramatic finish in Aqaba next week.

We really enjoy bringing the season to a close in Aqaba and the team is working hard to ensure that the thousands of spectators can enjoy a safe day’s entertainment.”

AMMAN — The national football team is set to face South Korea on Friday in a friendly as they start their last phase of preparations for the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. 

Seven-hundred tickets are allocated for Korean spectators at the game which kicks off at the King Abdullah II Stadium at 4:30pm. 

Some of the Kigdom’s professionals playing abroad have joined the line-up as head coach Ray Wilkins has made some changes with the aim of finalising the line-up after the upcoming series of friendlies.

“The match against 66th ranked South Korea will be a real test as the aim is choosing the best players and achieving our goals,” head coach Ray Wilkins told the local media. 

The Kingdom  was drawn to play in
Group D with 2011 holders Japan, Iraq and Palestine.

Following the match, Jordan’s squad is set to leave to Talinn, Estonia, for another friendly on November 18 against their 88th ranked hosts. Jordan is slated to play Uzbekistan on December 20, the UAE on December 31 and Bahrain on January 4 ahead of the Asian Cup.

The coach said there was a lot of focused work to be done and that the team should be well prepared. In past matches, Jordan has tied South Korea twice and lost twice.

Jordan dropped five spots to 74th in the latest FIFA Rankings.  

AMMAN – Members of the Jordanian football team look forward to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, optimistic that they will achieve positive results in the competition, national team head coach Raymond Wilkins said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Australian embassy in Amman, Wilkins said he believes the Jordanian team, which will play Japan, Iraq and Palestine in Group D at the competition, will obtain good results.

Jordan has prepared in earnest ahead of the Asian Cup, Jordan Football Association (JFA) Vice President Salah Sabra said at a reception held at the Australian embassy.

The national team will have a friendly match against South Korea on Friday in preparation for the Asian Cup. 

The team will leave for Talinn, Estonia, for another friendly on November 18 against their 88th ranked hosts.

Jordan faces Uzbekistan on December 20, the UAE on December 31 and Bahrain on January 4, also in preparation for the tournament.

Sabra said JFA was among the first to support Australia when it submitted a request to organsie this competition.

"I believe that this tournament will be held in accordance with high level standards and it will have a lot of success," he added.

Meanwhile, Australian Ambassador to Jordan Heidi Venamore stressed the importance of sports, saying that they provide humanity with a common language.

"It can make huge leaps in strengthening ties between countries, and the Asian Football Cup gives us an opportunity to continue our engagement with Jordan, on the football field and in person," Venamore said. 

Moreover, the envoy believes the AFC 2015 Asian Cup is a valuable opportunity to further enhance Australia’s reputation for staging great sporting events, and to generate longer-term community, diplomatic and economic benefits.

"The AFC Asian Football Cup is also a chance for Australia to showcase its tourism, trade and investments to the world, and, more importantly, cement strong relationships with participating nations," the Australian ambassador said.

The hosts play South Korea, Kuwait and Oman in Group A at the AFC 2015 Asian Cup.

AMMAN — Soccerex and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) have cemented their commitment to the development of football across Asia by singing a new two-year deal to host the Soccerex Asian Forum in Jordan, according to a statement from AFDP.

Next year’s edition takes place on April 14-15.

The deal, signed by AFDP Chairman and Founder HRH Prince Ali and Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie, will see the two organisations working side-by-side over the coming two years to strengthen and improve the business side of the game in Asia while raising awareness for a number of social causes being carried out across the continent.

Building upon the success of last year’s forum, the event will continue to be a gateway to Asia for the world of football and will bring together 1,000 of the leading administrators, business figures, brands and footballing legends in Asian football with their global counterparts for two days of networking, learning and business.

“The signing of this new agreement reinforces the commitment our two organisations made to the development of Asian football last year. I’m very pleased to be working alongside Soccerex again to capitalise on the business and social development opportunities created by the market and to provide a platform which will unite Asian football.” Prince Ali was quoted in the statement as saying.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said in the statement: “Our new partnership with the Asian Football Development Project will allow us to build upon the solid foundations we created last year and really establish the Asian Forum in Jordan. As we found out, the Asian market is a hotbed for football business and a region where football plays a central role in social development. We couldn’t ask for a greater host and partner than HRH Prince Ali and his team and I’m looking forward to returning to Jordan early next year.”

GENEVA — Russia and Qatar were cleared Thursday by a FIFA judge of corruption in their winning bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert formally ended a probe into the bidding contests, almost four years after the vote by the governing body's scandal-tainted executive committee. No proof was found of bribes or voting pacts.

"The evaluation of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is closed for the FIFA Ethics Committee," the German judge wrote in a statement released by FIFA.

The 2022 World Cup will finally, it seems, be played in Qatar — though exactly when is still unclear as FIFA seeks an alternative to the desert heat in June and July.

"FIFA welcomes the fact that a degree of closure has been reached," the governing body said Thursday in a statement. "As such, FIFA looks forward to continuing the preparations for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, which are already well under way."

Despite finding wrongdoing among the 11 bidding nations, Eckert said the integrity of the votes was not affected.

"In particular, the effects of these occurrences on the bidding process as a whole were far from reaching any threshold that would require returning to the bidding process, let alone reopening it," he summarized.

The corruption case is still open for past and current members of FIFA's ruling board.

Critics of FIFA have long relied on Eckert and ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia to build a case to remove the wealthy desert emirate as host in 2022 by proving suspicions that votes and influence were bought. Qatar beat the United States 14-8 in the final round of a five-nation contest.

That hope ended as FIFA released Eckert's 42-page summary findings of the investigation reports, which have stayed secret against Garcia's wishes.

Whistleblower evidence from a former Qatar bid staffer who said there were illicit payments 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.

Still, both winners had issues highlighted by Eckert.

Qatar's bid had "potentially problematic facts and circumstances," plus a "significant lack of transparency" in its use of advisers. Computers leased for use by Russia staffers were later destroyed.

Garcia, a former U.S. Attorney in New York, was asked by Eckert to prosecute cases against individuals.

Exactly who that implicates is unclear as Eckert did not reveal who Garcia suspects of wrongdoing. Nor did Eckert identify by name any serving member of the FIFA board, except when praising FIFA President Sepp Blatter, nor officials linked to the nine bid candidates.

Eckert has previously said his final judgments could take until April. Appeals against sanctions, to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, could extend the process even further.

England's failed 2018 campaign, which received only two of 22 votes in an all-European race, fared badly in Eckert's report. Netherlands-Belgium had no issues and Eckert did not include comments on the Spain-Portugal candidacy, which appeared to be the bid noted as the least cooperative with Garcia.

In the 2022 race, Australia was criticized for its consultants' behavior, while the United States, Japan and South Korea received only minor comments.

Garcia and his team gave Eckert 430 pages of reports after interviewing more than 75 witnesses, and amassing 200,000 pages of supporting documents.

Eckert acknowledged the probe lacked "coercive means" to seize potential evidence such as "money and paper trails," and had to rely on cooperation of witnesses.

Yet of 11 board members in 2010 who are no longer at FIFA, three declined to speak with Garcia and two could not be contacted.

Addressing public skepticism about how Qatar and Russia won, Eckert pointed to his duty as judge.

"The perception for example, according to which a FIFA World Cup vote must have been 'bought' if the host selected is not the one that has been generally considered a favorite ... is mere speculation and far from anything a judicial body like the FIFA Ethics Committee is allowed to accept as proof," Eckert noted.

SYDNEY — Al Hilal’s Nasser Al Shamrani has been nominated for the Asian Player of the Year award despite sparking a brawl at the end of the second leg of the Asian Champions League (ACL) final earlier this month. The Saudi striker was named on the short-list along with defender Ismail Ahmed of Emirati club Al Ain and Qatari midfielder Khalfan Ibrahim of the Al Sadd club, who won the award in 2006. Al Shamrani scored 10 goals in the ACL this season but faces disciplinary charges after spitting at Western Sydney Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic after Al Hilal lost 1-0 on aggregate to the A-League outfit in the final. Ibrahim’s sometimes dazzling skill won him the award when he was still in his teens, while Ahmed was a stalwart in the backline as Al Ain made it to the ACL semifinals and would be the first United Arab Emirates player to be honoured. 

SINGAPORE — Lee Chong Wei has dominated the world rankings without ever capturing one of badminton’s biggest prizes and now the Malaysian’s hopes of a last shot at glory appear likely to have ended in an Oslo laboratory.

The 32-year-old Lee has spent almost 300 weeks ranked number one in the world but after losing the last two Olympic and three world championship finals he will no longer have a chance to cap his stellar career with a “dream” Rio gold in 2016.

Lee’s 55 global titles have made him Malaysia’s leading sportsman but his legacy of a perfect role model and father will now surely be tarnished after traces of the banned anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone were discovered in his system during the August world championships in Denmark.

After a follow-up test in Norway this week, witnessed by the player and Malaysian badminton officials, confirmed the positive test, the likely two-year ban represents a sad way for Lee to end his affiliation with a sport he did so much to promote.

Although Malaysian authorities may discover that the drug was taken inadvertently as part of medical treatment, Lee, who received stem cell injections in July for a thigh injury, will still be expected to serve the full two-year term.

Born in the small town of Bagan Serai in Malaysia, Lee’s first love was basketball but his family pushed him to take up badminton and his supreme footwork and defensive skills had earned a call up to the national squad at 17.

He won his first major title in 2003 on home soil and as he added more deceptive shots to his repertoire, the tournament wins continued to flow and he claimed the number one ranking for the first time in 2006.

Lin rivalry

Often reluctant to take risks, Lee’s retrieving ability, incredible reflexes and agility made him almost impossible to beat for most players but he lacked a killer punch against the very best, particularly arch rival and nemesis Lin Dan.

While the pair would claim a similar number of victories at national opens around the globe over the next eight years, China’s Lin, who is a year younger than Lee, could always find that little extra when they met on the grandest of stages.

They first crossed swords in an Olympic final in Beijing six years ago with Lin storming away in the second game to claim a victory he would repeat in London in 2012, although Lee let slip an 18-16 lead in the decider of a classic encounter.

Lee was also foiled by the same opponent over three tight sets in the 2011 and 2013 world championship finals and when the Malaysian reached a third title showdown earlier this year in Lin’s absence, Chinese second seed Chen Long emerged victorious.

Nearing the end of their glittering careers, both Lee and Lin put off retirement to target one last Olympics with the Malaysian hoping to end on the high of a first gold with Lin targeting an unprecedented third straight title.

Sadly, the prospect of witnessing the rivals battling it out like a pair of ageing prize-fighters for one final grudge match is no longer a possibility after Lee’s positive test.

His previous achievements will guarantee the Malaysian a prestigious place in badminton’s history books but the cause of his premature retirement will always be indicated by an unwelcome asterisk.