Teh One Who Knocks
06-02-2014, 12:07 PM
By Rebecca Evans - The Daily Mail
http://i.imgur.com/7n87Ax4.jpg
Pressure was mounting last night for Qatar to be stripped of its status as 2022 World Cup host in the wake of fresh corruption claims.
Emails and account details allegedly reveal how a senior official ‘bought’ support for the Gulf state’s successful campaign to stage the tournament.
Up to £3million from secret slush funds was reportedly used to bribe officials by Mohamed bin Hammam – a disgraced former vice president of football’s governing body Fifa.
According to the Sunday Times, payments of up to £120,000 were made to African football bosses who held sway over the continent’s voting process.
Contrary to Fifa’s strict bribery rules, Mr Bin Hammam staged hospitality junkets across Africa and Asia, meeting delegates privately and handing out Nike holdalls full of luxury gifts and £250,000 in cash to get backing for Qatar’s bid.
Yesterday there were calls for the 2022 World Cup bid to be re-run and for Fifa president Sepp Blatter to resign.
Fifa’s decision to award the world’s biggest sporting tournament to the tiny oil-rich desert state has been controversial from the word go.
As well as health fears for footballers over the 50C summertime heat, reports say 1,200 migrant workers have died during an £120billion frenzy to build eight stadiums and other infrastructure.
Business magnate Mr Bin Hammam was banned from world football in 2011 after being caught bribing voters in a bid to become Fifa president.
The official Qatari bid committee have always insisted that the 65-year-old had nothing to with the campaign to take the World Cup to Doha.
As bids were being prepared six years ago, he was head of Qatari football, president of the Asian Football Confederation and a Fifa vice-president – with a vote in picking the top bid.
However, the newly unearthed files allegedly show that he flew around the world in the Qatari royal jet in a covert campaign to create a ‘groundswell’ of support.
There is also said to be evidence that he paid just under £1million into bank accounts controlled by Jack Warner, who stepped down as Fifa vice-president in 2011.
Of this money, £370,000 was paid before Mr Warner voted in 2010 to award Qatar the 2022 tournament.
Emails from African football bosses show their thanks for money they received. One in Namibia said he would ‘always be behind you’, but asked for a ‘once-off financial assistance to the tune of $50,000 (£29,000)’.
There are also claims Mr Bin Hammam exploited his position as chairman of a Fifa development scheme in poor countries to channel more than £700,000 into the football federations of three key African Fifa voters.
By contrast, England was humiliated when its campaign to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022 received just two votes.
Shadow international development secretary Jim Murphy yesterday said the bidding process should be held again if the allegations are proved true. He added: ‘The failure to do so would amount to the biggest crisis in Fifa since its formation in 1904.’
Alexandra Wrage, a former member of Fifa’s independent governance committee, said the documents were a ‘smoking gun’ after officials had insisted there was no evidence of corruption.
Tory MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said Fifa boss Mr Blatter’s position was ‘almost untenable’.
Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce said he would favour a re-vote if the body’s chief investigator found wrongdoing.
Last night a member of Mr Bin Hammam’s family said they would not be commenting.
http://i.imgur.com/7n87Ax4.jpg
Pressure was mounting last night for Qatar to be stripped of its status as 2022 World Cup host in the wake of fresh corruption claims.
Emails and account details allegedly reveal how a senior official ‘bought’ support for the Gulf state’s successful campaign to stage the tournament.
Up to £3million from secret slush funds was reportedly used to bribe officials by Mohamed bin Hammam – a disgraced former vice president of football’s governing body Fifa.
According to the Sunday Times, payments of up to £120,000 were made to African football bosses who held sway over the continent’s voting process.
Contrary to Fifa’s strict bribery rules, Mr Bin Hammam staged hospitality junkets across Africa and Asia, meeting delegates privately and handing out Nike holdalls full of luxury gifts and £250,000 in cash to get backing for Qatar’s bid.
Yesterday there were calls for the 2022 World Cup bid to be re-run and for Fifa president Sepp Blatter to resign.
Fifa’s decision to award the world’s biggest sporting tournament to the tiny oil-rich desert state has been controversial from the word go.
As well as health fears for footballers over the 50C summertime heat, reports say 1,200 migrant workers have died during an £120billion frenzy to build eight stadiums and other infrastructure.
Business magnate Mr Bin Hammam was banned from world football in 2011 after being caught bribing voters in a bid to become Fifa president.
The official Qatari bid committee have always insisted that the 65-year-old had nothing to with the campaign to take the World Cup to Doha.
As bids were being prepared six years ago, he was head of Qatari football, president of the Asian Football Confederation and a Fifa vice-president – with a vote in picking the top bid.
However, the newly unearthed files allegedly show that he flew around the world in the Qatari royal jet in a covert campaign to create a ‘groundswell’ of support.
There is also said to be evidence that he paid just under £1million into bank accounts controlled by Jack Warner, who stepped down as Fifa vice-president in 2011.
Of this money, £370,000 was paid before Mr Warner voted in 2010 to award Qatar the 2022 tournament.
Emails from African football bosses show their thanks for money they received. One in Namibia said he would ‘always be behind you’, but asked for a ‘once-off financial assistance to the tune of $50,000 (£29,000)’.
There are also claims Mr Bin Hammam exploited his position as chairman of a Fifa development scheme in poor countries to channel more than £700,000 into the football federations of three key African Fifa voters.
By contrast, England was humiliated when its campaign to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022 received just two votes.
Shadow international development secretary Jim Murphy yesterday said the bidding process should be held again if the allegations are proved true. He added: ‘The failure to do so would amount to the biggest crisis in Fifa since its formation in 1904.’
Alexandra Wrage, a former member of Fifa’s independent governance committee, said the documents were a ‘smoking gun’ after officials had insisted there was no evidence of corruption.
Tory MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said Fifa boss Mr Blatter’s position was ‘almost untenable’.
Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce said he would favour a re-vote if the body’s chief investigator found wrongdoing.
Last night a member of Mr Bin Hammam’s family said they would not be commenting.