Bribery allegations over the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

According to recent allegations, Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 World Cup was achieved by bribing FIFA officials. It is being claimed that an influential Qatari football official, Mohamed bin Hammam, made payments worth around $5 million to officials in return for their support for Qatar’s bid.

According to recent allegations, Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 World Cup was achieved by bribing FIFA officials. It is being claimed that an influential Qatari football official, Mohamed bin Hammam, made payments worth around $5 million to officials in return for their support for Qatar’s bid.

Many of the officials were reportedly flown on a private jet, along with their spouses, for an all-expenses-paid trip to Qatar, complete with pre-loaded credit cards, shortly before the vote. In 2010, when the Middle Eastern country had defeated bids from countries like the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea, many were surprised given the difficult y of holding a tournament in a country where the temperatures can often hover over 500 Celsius. Rumours of bribes had swirled even then.

The recent allegations was brought out in a Sunday Times report which claims to possess a number of emails and documents that detail payments made by Bin Hammam to various officials. Among them are claims that Bin Hammam ran a network of 10 slush funds to make payments to 30 African football officials . Up to $1.6 million had been paid to former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner. These allegations come at a time when a FIFA-commissioned ethics investigation of the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments is underway. The report of this investigation is expected by 9 June.

Apart from this, concerns have also been raised about hundreds of migrant workers who have reportedly been killed building the infrastructure for stadiums. Although the Qatari bid committee vehemently denies these claims and insists Bin Hammam never actively lobbied on its behalf, there is a growing demand for stripping Qatar of the rights to host the tournament.

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