Michael Garcia, the lead investigator into alleged corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups bidding process, has criticized soccer's global governing body, FIFA, for not conducting its ethics investigations in an open manner.

Garcia submitted his long-awaited report to German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert last month and called for it to be made public in line with "the goals of the reform process".

A number of FIFA executive committee members have backed its publication, but president Sepp Blatter has sidestepped the issue and the governing body's legal director linked the report's confidentiality with the protection of witnesses.