Qatar 2022 faces stress test after report reveals history of FIFA corruption

A new report has shed more light on how Qatar may have illegally acquired the rights to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, as it is suspected of bribing members of the FIFA executive committee.

The Sun’s sports pages revealed that a new foundation is set to crank up the heat on FIFA over the 2010 vote that awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

It added that the foundation details the corruption that has flowed through FIFA, and that it was “hard to understand what proper reasons FIFA’s 22 leaders could have had for their decision”.

The official inspection team, hand-picked by former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter and Co, had rated Qatar ninth of the nine 2018 and 2022 bidders at one point.

It mentioned that 11 executive committee members voted for Qatar in the first round and 14 in the final vote.

The report found out that the majority of the FIFA’s members who opted for the Qatar candidacy, were linked to corruption scandals.

They included the likes of South American crooks Julio Grondona, Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz.

In addition, Spain’s Angel Maria Villar Llona, who, along with his sons, faces charges of embezzlement and fraud, plus Michel Platini of France, who admitted his decision changed after a meeting with the Emir of Qatar and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

There were also “rogues like Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, who used their platforms in North, Central America and the Caribbean as springboards to amass millions of dollars in sweetheart deals and kickbacks” the report said.

The report said as well that “Blatter had been told that Qatar would, through the courts, destroy FIFA if the tournament was taken away from them, so he used Garcia’s report to complete a U-turn, clearing votes.”
Many of the members have since admitted to receiving bribes and they are now standing trial in the United States.

Next month’s 68th FIFA Congress will be held on June 12, two days before the kick off the World Cup in Russia.

The meeting is scheduled to hold a vote on who will host the 2026 World Cup, but there have been behind-the-scene European efforts to hold a re-vote on the 2022 host, according to Asharq Al-awsat.

VIEW: Qatar, the worst is yet to come