Six FIFA officials were prepared to sell their votes for up
to $1.5m each to push through Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup, according
to new revelations disclosed Tuesday.
Evidence presented to a British House of Commons’ inquiry reported
claims of corruption behind Qatar’s surprise win in hosting the 2022 tournament,
including a network of bribery that implicated senior FIFA officials.
Qatar beat bids from the US, Australia, Japan and South
Korea to win December’s vote.
In evidence heard Tuesday, and republished in a letter on
the Commons’ website, the Sunday Times alleges that Michel Zen-Ruffinen, a former
secretary general of FIFA, introduced undercover reporters to an acquaintance Amadou
Diallo.
Zen-Ruffinen is said to have claimed Qatar was “using Diallo
to arrange financial deals with the African [FIFA committee] members in
exchange for World Cup votes”.
Diallo was a chief assistant to Issa Hayatou, the
Confederation of African Football’s president, the letter claimed.
Ismail Bhamjee, a former member of the FIFA executive
committee, was directly quoted in the report as saying Africa’s current and former
representatives on the FIFA executive committee had previously sold their votes.
“And I’m told the Africans will get… anything from a quarter
to half a million dollars,” Bhamjee is reported as saying in reference to
alleged bribes from Qatar. “This is separate from the football.”
The Sunday Times also alleged that Amadou Diakite, a former
FIFA executive committee member who remained on the referees’ committee, talked
about $1m to $1.2m payments for “projects by Qatar in return for their
2022 vote” during telephone conversations.
The letter further claimed the paper had been told by “a
whistleblower that worked with the Qatar bid” that the Gulf state had paid
$1.5m to Hayatou and Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast to secure their vote.
“[The allegations] raise questions about the validity of
Qatar’s winning bid,” said the letter.
At least six FIFA executives were prepared to sell their
votes, the Commons’ committee heard.
Lawyers hired by the Qatar bid denounced the allegations as “entirely
false”, a denial repeated by the Qatar Football Association on Tuesday night.
In a statement, the association said the bid team “categorically
deny” the allegations.
As the Sunday Times itself states, these accusations ‘were
and remain unproven’. They will remain unproven, because they are false,”
it said.
“We have nothing to hide and are prepared to support
and cooperate with any further investigations.”
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