PARIS: UEFA president Michel Platini on Friday acknowledged that FIFA’s decision to publish a report by US lawyer Michael Garcia into the controversial awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was “a step in the right direction”.

“It was important that the FIFA Executive Committee decided today to publish the Garcia report. I have always battled for transparency and this is a step in the right direction,” Platini said in a statement released by UEFA.

“Let us hope that the report can now be published as quickly as possible. The credibility of FIFA depends on it.”

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2014