Blatter insists 2022 World Cup will be staged in Qatar

MANILA - FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Sunday that the 2022 World Cup will definitely be staged in Qatar -- no matter who tries to strip the Gulf state of the hosting rights.

"Believe me, if we see what has been said, what's told around the world, it's by those who are not involved exactly (in) what happens in football," Blatter told delegates at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) awards in Manila.

"The World Cup 2022 will be played in Qatar."

A 42-page summary made by FIFA's chief judge Hans-Joachim Eckert cleared the bids from Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing, but Michael Garcia, the former US attorney who led the FIFA investigation, said the world body had misrepresented his findings.

Eckert has blocked the release of the Garcia report citing confidentiality agreements and legal restrictions.

On Sunday FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke insisted there was "no need" to publish the investigation in full, despite widespread calls to make it public.