The former chief of the world football governing body FIFA Sepp Blatter acknowledged on Monday that Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup after political meddling.
He said in a tweet: “Bad news: Qatar accused of denigration of other bidders! Fact is Qatar won after a political intervention by the former French President Sarkozy to FIFA Vice-President Platini.”
Over the weekend, British media uncovered new files, emails and documents that implicate Qatar in conspiring and running sabotage campaigns against rival bidders seeking to host the World Cup.
The Sunday Times said that Doha ran secret “black operations” against bidders to undermine their campaigns in clear violation of FIFA rules.
According to the documents, obtained from a whistleblower, Qatar paid major public relations companies and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents to wage a smear campaign against main bidders Australia and the United States.
The campaign involved recruiting influential people to attack the bids in their own countries, seeking to create the impression that there was “zero support” for the World Cup domestically, said the Times.
FIFA bars World Cup bidders from making "any written or oral statements of any kind, whether adverse or otherwise, about the bids or candidatures of any other member association".
Germany was one of the fiercest advocates of withdrawing Qatar’s right to organize the World Cup in wake of the corruption allegations that rocked FIFA five years ago.
Doha had been previously accused of bribing members of the football world governing body and many have admitted to receiving these funds.
Qatar controversially won the right to host the World Cup in December 2010. The victory has long been plagued with corruption allegations and the Gulf country has been frequently condemned for the poor conditions of laborers, who are constructing the tournament’s stadiums.
