Qatar Accused of ‘Buying’ Right to Host 2022 World Cup

Local Editor

More than two years after FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, the influential French magazine France Football said the gulf kingdom bribed its way to hosting the event. The 15-page article published on Tuesday and titled ‘The Qatargate’ revealed evidence pointing towards Qatar buying the right to host the 2022 World Cup. The magazine claimed African Confederation President Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast who both took part in the voting were accused of taking bribes by a former Qatari bid employee Phaedra Al Majid. It was also revealed that Qatar reportedly poured around $1.25mn into the 2010 African Confederation Congress to gain exclusive access to the four Africans on the FIFA executive committee. One of them, Nigerian Amos Adamu, was later suspended from the executive committee following allegations made by the Sunday Times. The magazine described a meeting between the then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the UEFA President Michel Platini and the Qatari crown prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani in 2010. Platini later opted for Qatar during the vote, while the crown prince has since bought Paris St. Germain, making it one of the strongest football clubs in Europe, and launched beIN Sport in France. The magazine said it will hand the evidence to FIFA so a supplementary investigation in the Qatar bid can be launched.

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