Two whistleblowers who provided significant assistance to Michael Garcia’s investigation into alleged corruption in the bid process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups have voiced their respective ‘rage’ and disappointment at how their evidence was portrayed in FIFA’s 42-page summary of Garcia’s unpublished report.

Speaking together publicly for the first time, exclusively to the Mail on Sunday, Bonita Mersiades, a former Australia bid insider, and Phaedra Almajid, who worked on the Qatar 2022 campaign, said the summary by FIFA’s ethics judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, is a ‘deliberate denigration of two women who have been courageous enough to say something’.

Eckert said their evidence was unreliable and inaccurate. But they scoffed at the notion the bid process was uncorrupted. Almajid spoke about her difficult, painful and at times dangerous role as a whistleblower. She also revealed for the first time how she was pressured into retracting previous accusations.

Two whistleblowers have slammed FIFA and revealed their 'rage' at how their evidence was portrayed in FIFA's 42-page summary of Michael Garcia's report into alleged corruption in the World Cup bidding process. This picture shows FIFA president Sepp Blatter (right) and the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (left) as well as his wife, receiving the trophy after the state was awarded the 2022 competition

‘When it comes to FIFA, be prepared to be crucified, not once or twice but over and over again,’ Almajid said of her experience. ‘Be prepared to suffer and pay for your actions. Be prepared never to feel safe and never to feel you can trust anyone. But most importantly, be ready to be betrayed by those who have promised to protect you.’

Both women provided Garcia with detailed knowledge of the bids they worked on, respectively Australia’s and Qatar’s. Their information was fundamental to Garcia concluding there were indications of ‘problematic conduct’ by both bids.

WHO ARE THE TWO FIFA CORRUPTION REPORT WHISTLEBLOWERS? WHISTLEBLOWER 1 - Bonita Mersiades (below left): Former head of corporate affairs in the Australia 2022 bid. Highly respected PR professional and sports administrator. She left the bid team after disagreeing with a policy to influence ExCo votes with money for pet projects. WHISTLEBLOWER 2 - Phaedra Almajid (below right):Former head of international media relations for the Qatar 2022 bid. Left in early 2010 having become disillusioned with the bid. Unhappy at some of the methods and expenditure Qatar were undertaking. The two FIFA corruption report whistleblowers Bonita Mersiades (left) and Phaedra Almajid Advertisement

Michael Garcia (left) and Hans-Joachim Eckhart have been tarnished by FIFA's probe into the World Cup vote

Mersiades is not surprised that Eckert effectively gave the whole process a clean bill of health despite its multiple obvious flaws. She said the fact that she and Almajid were singled out for specific mention, though not named by Eckert, shows that at FIFA ‘the culture of silence is rewarded’.

And Mersiades was the head of corporate and public affairs within the Australian bid. She had access to all areas of the bid and was sacked because of her criticism of the conduct of the international consultants associated with the bid.

She said Eckert’s conclusion that the bid process was essentially clean is ‘high comedy’.

Almajid was one of the first employees of Qatar’s bid, five years ago. She worked inside the bid until early 2010 as the head of international media, working daily with all the key figures on the bid, attending strategy meetings and traveling around the world on lobbying trips.

Michael Garcia (near right): Former US Attorney for New York; appointed head of Fifa’s investigatory chamber of the ethics committee in 2012 and told to compile a report into allegations of 2018/2022 bid corruption. Hans-Joachim Eckert (far right): German judge, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee; published a 42-page summary of the report last week, prompting Garcia to claim is is inaccurate and appeal against its validity.

‘My initial reaction to the way I was singled out in Eckert’s summary was shock, then rage,’ she said. ‘Knowing FIFA, I should not have been surprised.’

Eckert’s summary said Mersiades’ evidence ‘often did not support [her] specific recollections and allegations’.

Of Almajid, Eckert wrote: ‘Serious concerns about the individual’s credibility were apparent from the outset.’ He also said: ‘Journals the individual provided could not be relied upon to corroborate [her] story.’

Blatter has served four terms as FIFA president and is set to stand for a fifth next year

Yet it is the contention of both women that main bid ‘issues’ for Australia and Qatar identified within Garcia’s report were in fact identified to Garcia by them, and acknowledged by Garcia as legitimate concerns.

Mersiades told Garcia how financial incentives were sought for projects controlled by FIFA executive committee (ExCo) voters - and paid by Australia’s bid.

She also explained how the cover of ‘football development’ was used as a euphemism for funding directed towards favoured projects of ExCo voters.

The Al-Rayyan Stadium which will be built for the 2022 World Cup in the state of Qatar

Eckert acknowledged ‘indications of potentially problematic conduct’ in the Australia bid. Yet he brushed any wrongdoing under the carpet by claiming these did not ‘compromise the integrity’ of the bidding.

Though acknowledging Almajid made herself available for more than a year to Garcia ‘and provided voluminous records and other materials’, Eckert claimed there were ‘serious concerns’ about Almajid’s credibility because she had formerly made serious accusations about ExCo voters and then retracted them.

Almajid did make earlier claims that were retracted by affidavit. Now, the MoS can reveal the extraordinary circumstances in which that retraction occurred.

David Beckham shakes hands with Blatter and hands over England's ill-fated World Cup 2018 bid book

Almajid had broken a confidentiality contract pertaining to her bid employment by speaking about alleged corruption. The Qataris were threatening to sue her for $1m (£640,000) - enough to ruin her financially and put the future of her two children, one of them severely disabled, in jeopardy.

A senior Qatari official told Almajid if she signed a sworn retraction saying that her corruption claims were a fabrication, they would cease any further legal action. That was in 2011. She signed.

‘I was completely alone in trying to fight off the Qataris,’ she says. ‘I needed to protect the welfare of my kids and I signed.’

The FBI in America have taken an active interest in the 2018 and 2022 bidding processes because of the involvement of US figures.

David Beckham, Lord Coe and Andy Anson look dejected as England miss out on hosting the 2018 World Cup

The MoS can also reveal that US intelligence agencies were interested in various aspects of the Qatar bid team’s behaviour and there is a recording of a conversation between Almajid and a senior Qatari official discussing the terms of Almajid’s retraction.

Garcia is believed to have had access to that recording and knows why Almajid retracted earlier testimony. ‘Why was this information not mentioned in Eckert’s comments about my credibility and affidavit?’ said Almajid. ‘Or does this crucial piece of information undermine Qatar’s credibility instead?’

Garcia has not responded to the Mail on Sunday’s requests for comment, or to questions, but he knows from extensive interviews with Almajid she feared for her safety and felt threatened for much of the past four years.

Football's world governing body has come under enormous scrutiny after its handling of the World Cup vote

Yet Eckert dismisses her as a liar and untrustworthy.

‘I am one small insignificant single mum against the richest country in the world and the richest sporting organisation in the world,’ said Almajid.

Almajid gave Garcia mountains of evidence about consultants on Qatar’s bid breaching ethics rules, on the role of the Aspire Academy in offering incentives to voters, and on Qatar’s pivotal £1.2m sponsorship of the African Confederation congress in Angola.

All of this is cited in Garcia’s report as grounds for concern about the Qatari bid but oddly Eckert’s summary is dismissive of Almajid, saying ‘concerns about [her] credibility’ were always obvious.

‘I had a lot of meetings with them for someone supposedly so unreliable,’ Almajid said. ‘Garcia wanted, and got, everything I had: a detailed timeline of events, USBs, my iPhone, a Blackberry, documents, contemporaneous notes, CDs, emails.’

An artist's impression of the Doha Port Stadium, which will host several World Cup matches

Among the insider detail on Qatar’s bid, Almajid also told Garcia of seven-figure payments to bid ambassadors and about a vote collusion pact between Qatar and the Spain-Portugal bid, which everybody in world football, including FIFA president Sepp Blatter but not the Qataris, acknowledges helped Qatar win votes.

Such a pact was against bidding rules. Eckert’s report details what was wrong with every single bid, if anything, except one. Extraordinarily, there is not a single word on Spain-Portugal’s bid.

‘That is utterly incredible,’ Almajid said. ‘The investigators know what happened. It’s just not in there, like it didn’t exist. That’s FIFA all over; if they say it didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen.’

Both Mersiades and Almajid may soon get a chance to share everything they know on a ‘neutral’ platform at Parliament in London. Damian Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, who lobbies and works with pressure groups to try to reform FIFA, has invited them to the Commons, where they may share their experiences with a select committee.

Locals celebrate in Doha after the announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup

More immediately, Collins has invited both women to help him organise a conference in Brussels at the end of January to discuss FIFA reform and how the corruption of FIFA’s past can really become a thing of the past. Politicians, sponsors and other members of the reform-minded football family from around the world will attend.

Both Bonita Mersiades and Phaedra Almajid are strong, credible women who have had the guts and determination to stand up for what they believe is right,’ Collins told the Mail on Sunday on Saturday.

‘People have tried to smear them and discredit them. But they are experienced and knowledgeable people and they need to be heard. FIFA does not want to listen.’

Almajid says the low points of the past four years have been when she was viewed as ‘an Arab traitor’. Almajid is an Arab-American, who also describes herself as ‘a Muslim with a deep love of the region and belief that it should stage a World Cup one day’.

David Beckham (left) and Prince William look distressed after England's World Cup 2018 bid fails

She is insistent she has nothing against Qatar but was deeply disturbed by the way money was being spent by its bid team. ‘I spoke to Garcia and I’m speaking now because this is a question of ethics, integrity and differentiating between what is right and wrong. This is not a story about Arabs versus non-Arabs - it is a story based on principle.’

Mersiades says the practical fallout to being a whistleblower has been hard, as she feels ostracised in her native Australia.

‘In a relatively small nation like Australia, when you’re seen to “cross” one of the richest men in the country [the Australian bid’s main backer and football president was billionaire businessman Frank Lowy], corporate life is closed to you,’ she said.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter announces Qatar as the hosts for the 2022 World Cup in December 2010

‘The other negative is some in the football community think that the only reason I said anything was because my employment was terminated and that I want to “ruin” football. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been a passionate fan of the game my entire life, and so has my family.’

I asked Mersiades if she had a message for any future whistleblower. She said: ‘Ask yourself how you want the metrics of your life to be measured. We have choices. You can play in the sand pit. You can leave your principles at the door.

‘Or you can be prepared to be resilient and take the consequences from those in power who desperately want to maintain the status quo - like Judge Eckert with his report.

‘Do I regret it? Some days, yes. Would I do it again? Without a doubt.’