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How Qatar allegedly bought FIFA World cup 2022 for millions

EuropeHow Qatar allegedly bought FIFA World cup 2022 for millions

How Qatar allegedly bought the hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in 2010 for millions of dollars and here’s how it was done.

For FIFA, an executive committee of 24 men would decide who would be the host of the FIFA World Cup and in 2010, there were 14 men who potentially swayed the votes for Qatar strengthened by the backbone of money.   While Qatar excitedly prepares for the big day tomorrow, here is the story behind how Qatar became the location for the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Events That Led to the Votes

It is believed Mohammad Bin Hamman from Qatar, one of the executive members helped pulled the big strings urging the others to vote for Qatar, but it was not done by mere speeches but by a language that both Qatar and FIFA understood.

Leaked emails and bank records revealed by the Sunday Times demonstrated that before voting day, Bin Hamman transferred $450,000 directly into Jack Warner’s account and later transferred him a massive $1.6 million.  Warner is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician, businessman, and former football executive. Warner was Vice President of the FIFA.

It was interesting that after one month after the vote, Warner went on to call Bin Hamman “The only brother I have in football” and records reveal that he gave him his bank details.

Several executive members from the South American confederation also received big bribes.  The US Department of Justice got involved to condemn them stating these three men received bribes in exchange for their votes.  Two of these men later died in the last couple of years.  They never got to see the fruit of their votes.

In Angola, three of the executive members from Africa had a meeting organized by the Qatar bid team and in the meeting, according to a former employee, who was in the room translating, the Qatar bid team offered $1.5 million each to vote for Qatar in exchange. A year later, this whistleblower got frightened it seems and she said that she had actually lied about it and there were no bribes.  When the FBI questioned her further, landing on her doorstep, she finally admitted that she was pressured to lie about it.  She says she still is afraid, always looking over her shoulder.

Four months before the vote, Thailand and Qatar met in Thailand to negotiate a natural gas deal and for some strange reason, a FIFA executive committee member was at the meeting.  Apparently, Bin Hamman had arranged the meeting and one can leave the rest to the imagination.

Behind the smoky scenes of voting for Qatar was the president of FIFA, from the European UEFA Michel Platini.  Just one week before the vote, Platini got an invitation for lunch from French president Nicolas Sarkozy at his palace.  While before this, Platini was planning to vote for the US to hold the FIFA World Cup, at that luncheon, the prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim and Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

In this meeting, Sarkozy, the former French president told Platini to vote for Qatar, he also told the Qataris to buy the French football team, Paris Saint-Germain, Sarkozy’s favorite football team, which was in financial ruin.

After the meeting, Qatar bought Paris Saint-Germain for 60 million pounds, as Sarkozy wanted, upgraded and glamorized the team.  There was a sudden surge in powerful trade deals between France and Qatar.

It became apparent to the others that there was a money trail involved and Sapp Blatter, President of the FIFA executive committee annoyed said, “They had influenced Michel Platini at that time to vote for Qatar.”

Fourteen of them voted for Qatar even though earlier, they had agreed that Qatar was not suited to be a host and those votes far outdid the votes for US.

There are always parameters that countries should have to be good hosts for international games, such as good weather and an audience that supports the same game.  Qatar did not fit the bill with its such as extremely hot weather, no widespread football infrastructure, and not a significant local population to spread football in their area in Qatar’s population of 300,000 people.

The history of the FIFA world cup started from simple origins from seven nations in 1904 to organize matches for association football to grow into the most powerful sporting organization in the world representing 211 countries today, unlike cricket which represents 17 countries worldwide.

The influential game brings billions together.  In 2018, one billion of the world’s population were watching the game, in Moscow when France beat Croatia.

While Qatar has no football game legacies, it is believed that Qatar and other governments do anything and pay tons of money to get the World Cup in their county because there is great power to get the entire world focused on one’s country for a few weeks.  Perhaps there have been under-the-table deals to get votes for the game in the past, but in this deal, no country has paid more than Qatar to get the World Cup in their country.

The iconic tournament is the most expensive ever as the Middle East country has reportedly spent a hefty $220 billion on its preparations.  FIFA has said nearly three million tickets have been sold across the eight stadiums in Qatar ahead of the November 20-December 18 World Cup. The tournament is expected to deliver record revenue for FIFA, crossing the roughly $5.4 billion Russia brought in at the 2018 World Cup.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was awarded to Qatar under controversial circumstances, making it the first Muslim country and the first in the Arab world to host the event.  Qatar hosted the 2006 Asian Games, and will also host the 2030 Asian Games.

Qatar is a country in Western Asia and occupies the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and shares its sole land border with neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council monarchy Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf.

FIFA can be blamed for being corrupt to the core, while Qatar just understood the language of money and power, and the two connected to make a giant deal for whatever reasons, but one of the main, for prestige, power, and recognition.

Muhammad SulemanKhan
@SulemanKhan_98
·
4h
#FIFA has named Palestinian refugee and social media influencer Wessam Qutob as the 2022 World Cup ambassador in #Qatar ۔
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#Qatar2022

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