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A former Qatari football official has been accused of paying $5 million to gain support for the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosting rights, which were announced in 2010.
Bin Hammam, a report by The Guardian says, used ‘slush funds’ to pay top football officials bribes in order to gain their support for Qatar’s bid for the World Cup 2022’s hosting rights.
Bin Hammam is the former president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In 2012, he was banned for life from football administration by the FIFA’s ethics committee after he resigned from his positions at FIFA and the AFC.
The Guardian report states The Sunday Times found Bin Hammam paid up to $200,000 to accounts ‘controlled by the presidents of 30 African football associations, and hosted hospitality events in Africa at which he handed out further funds, to get backing for Qatar’s bid’.
The Qatari committee behind the World Cup bid has denied Bin Hammam’s secret role in its hosting rights campaign; Bin Hammam or his representatives are yet to respond to these allegations.
This controversy further raises question marks over Qatar’s future as the world cup host; previous concerns raised by the global sporting community have pertained to the country’s hot climate, lack of infrastructure readiness and corruption charges of similar nature against Qatari officials.