FIFA left feeling flat after sponsors Coca-Cola slam World Cup corruption report

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Coca-Cola has become the first major sponsor of the World Cup to publicly attack FIFA over the way it has handled its botched corruption investigation.

The drinks company, whose financial backing is worth more than £300m to the governing body, said the reaction to its internal investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments was ‘disappointing’.

Michael Garcia, head of FIFA’s ethics committee, disowned the corruption report investigating saying his work had been ‘misrepresented’.

FIFA's investigation into the World Cup bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments has been criticised

Major sponsor Coca-Cola has become the first company to publicly speak out about the corruption report

The short summary of its report into the corruption claims, by FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, cleared the winning Qatar and Russia bids of any wrongdoing.

A spokesman for Coca Cola told The Sunday Times: ‘Anything that detracts from the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup is a concern to us. The current conflicting perspectives regarding the investigation are disappointing. Our expectation is that this will be resolved quickly in a transparent and efficient manner.’

Michael Garcia (left) has disowned the the interpretation of his report by Hans-Joachim Eckert (right)

Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark have joined FA chairman Greg Dyke's calls for a full and transparent publication of the investigation

Two other major financial backers, McDonalds and Adidas, have also expressed their concern about the latest controversy to engulf FIFA. McDonalds told the newspaper it would be ‘monitoring the situation’, while Adidas have vowed to discuss the report directly with FIFA.

Earlier this month, Emirates — the Dubai-based airline — confirmed it was withdrawing its backing for FIFA, while electronics giant Sony are understood to be considering a termination of their partnership.

Meanwhile, the German, Dutch, Belgian, Swedish and Danish football federations have all joined Football Association chairman Greg Dyke in demanding full and transparent publication of the 350-page report, which was the result of Garcia’s two-year investigation into allegations of corruption.