FIFA has announced it has received notification from ethics investigator Michael Garcia of his intention to challenge the decision to clear Qatar and Russia to host the 2022 and 2018 World Cups.
German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert's findings said there was no reason to re-run the bidding - and criticised England 2018 for its relationship with disgraced former FIFA executive member Jack Warner.
US lawyer Garcia, who had submitted a lengthy report to Eckert, the head of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee, responded by saying he would appeal.
A FIFA statement said: "Regarding reports about a potential appeal by Michael J Garcia, chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee, FIFA can today confirm receipt of his intention to appeal to the FIFA appeal committee."
FIFA said it was "not in a position" to interpret the statements made by Eckert or Garcia.
The statement added: "The ethics committee is independent from FIFA and contains two separate chambers that mirror the system of justice in many countries with an investigatory chamber independent from the adjudicatory chamber. In line with this independence, FIFA does not have any influence over the writing of investigatory reports nor over the findings of any investigations."
"I was surprised. I will talk to Garcia" - Hans-Joachim Eckert
Eckert said he planned to hold talks with Garcia but admitted he was surprised by the American lawyer's reaction.
Eckert told Press Association Sport: "Yes I was surprised. I will talk to Garcia but until then I will make no more statements."
Meanwhile two other senior FIFA executive members have joined Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce in calling for the Garcia report to be made public - something Eckert said in a statement on Thursday that he would not do.
American FIFA member Sunil Gulati and FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb from the Cayman Islands issued a joint statement saying: "Given the disagreement between the two chairmen of the investigatory and adjudicatory chambers of the ethics committee and to ensure complete transparency we believe the full report conducted by the FIFA ethics committee into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups should be made public as soon as possible."
Garcia said he will go to FIFA's appeals committee because Eckert's summary of his investigation contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions".
He will also have the opportunity to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, even though it is not exactly clear what he is specifically appealing against.
