http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/story/2203377/world-cup-bid-investigator-michael-garcia-quits-fifa-ethics-committee

GENEVA -- Michael Garcia, the American lawyer who led the investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process, has resigned from the FIFA ethics committee in protest over the handling of his findings.

Garcia cited a "lack of leadership" at the top of FIFA in a resignation statement on Wednesday.

He also said he has lost confidence in the independence of his ethics committee colleague, German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.

The former U.S. attorney quit a day after the FIFA appeals panel rejected his challenge of Eckert's summary of the confidential 430-page investigation dossier.

Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup, and Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament.

On Wednesday, Garcia claimed that Eckert misrepresented his work.

"[The] Eckert Decision made me lose confidence in the independence of the Adjudicatory Chamber, [but] it is the lack of leadership on these issues within FIFA that leads me to conclude that my role in this process is at an end," Garcia wrote.

Qatar.