Qatar Could Be Stripped Of Hosting World Cup In 2022
Amidst fresh allegations of bribery, Qatar might lose the right to host the World Cup in 2022.
By Darian Goh — 02 Jun 2014, 06:18 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
Qatar may lose the right to host the World Cup after fresh allegations and evidence of bribery for votes
Damning new evidence suggests the chosen hosts, Qatar allegedly bribed FIFA officials to secure their votes. According to a report in the Sunday Times , Qatar used a $5.4 million slush fund to secure the support of key members of the 24-man ruling committee.
news.com.au
The Sunday Times report claimed that bin Hammam, a Qatari who used to be a vice president of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, made dozens of payments to top soccer officials to build support for Qatar’s bid.
nytimes.com
The Sunday Times reported that payments of millions of pounds were made to officials who supported the bid.
Qatar officials has denied the allegations, saying the accusations were baseless
Organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar denied allegations of wrongdoing after a British newspaper report questioned the integrity of the process by which the emirate was chosen as the tournament host.
nytimes.com
Qatar's bid committee and Bin Hammam have always strenuously denied any wrongdoing. The committee also rejected claims Bin Hammam actively lobbied on their behalf in the run-up to the vote in December 2010.
The Qatar 2022 organizing committee’s statement Sunday stressed that bin Hammam “played no official or unofficial role in the bid committee.” The committee said that it “always upheld the highest standard of ethics and integrity.”
nytimes.com
The Sunday Times obtained documents and emails implicating former FIFA official Bin Hammam corrupting other officials to win the right to stage the World Cup
Allegations of corruption centre on former Fifa official Mohamed bin Hammam. The Sunday Times claims to have obtained secret documents that implicate the former Asian Football Confederation president in corrupting members of football's governing body to win the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
The newspaper alleges the documents, seen by BBC sports editor David Bond, show that Qatari Bin Hammam, 65, was lobbying on his country's behalf at least a year before the decision to award the country hosting rights. They also allegedly show he had made payments into accounts controlled by the presidents of 30 African football associations and accounts controlled by Trinidadian Jack Warner, a former vice-president of Fifa.
The allegations are currently being investigated by lawyers
New York lawyer Garcia, who is due to meet Qatari officials in Oman, is already conducting a long-running inquiry into the 2018 (Russia) and 2022 World Cup bids, the results of which were announced at the same time.
"If Garcia comes up with concrete evidence - and concrete evidence is given to the executive committee and to Fifa - then it has to be looked at very seriously." Former attorney general Lord Goldsmith, a member of Fifa's independent committee on governance, backed Boyce's stance.
"If it is proved that the decision to give Qatar the World Cup was procured by - frankly one can describe it no other way - bribery and improper influence, then that decision ought not to stand," he told BBC Radio 4.
Should Qatar be stripped of the host nation status, other countries who lost the bid like Australia and Japan might re-enter the bid to host the World Cup
Australia is ready to throw its hat back in the ring to host the 2022 World Cup in the wake of fresh allegations Qatar accepted bribes to run the prestigious event.
news.com.au
The Australian reported Football Federation Australia is giving serious consideration to vying for the 2022 event, again despite the widespread criticism it attracted for spending $43m on the failed bid in 2010.
news.com.au
The executive director of Japan's defeated bid, Yuichiro Nakajima, said he would also back a move to re-submit tenders for 2022. "I can't speak on behalf of the Japan FA - I'm not representing them now - but if I were in the position to say so, yes I would." Nakajima told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.