Qatar denies Sunday Times bribery allegations
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World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar delivered another strongly worded statement yesterday denying "serious, unsubstantiated and false" allegations from English media that it had bribed FIFA executive committee members to win the hosting rights.
A British parliamentary inquiry this month into England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup was told by member of parliament Damian Collins there was evidence from the Sunday Times newspaper that Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast were paid by Qatar.
Qatar denied buying the African's duo's vote at the time and yesterday it released a four-page statement again dismissing the claims and saying it welcomed an inquiry into the bidding process.
"The (Qatar 2022) bid committee welcomes a thorough investigation into the allegations made against it," the statement said.
"However, such an investigation must surely only be carried out by a properly constituted body with due authority and independence where our side of the story can be heard.
"It is wholly inappropriate for any examination of the bid committee's affairs to be based on unsubstantiated hearsay and inaccurate journalism."
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who stands for re-election against Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam on June 1, has not ruled out a re-run of the 2022 vote if the latest accusations from the Sunday Times are substantiated and proved to be correct.
The tiny gulf emirate of Qatar was a surprise winner of the December vote, beating strong bids from the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
But the decisions generated negative headlines after two members of FIFA's executive committee, the group who decided the hosts, were banned from voting after another Sunday Times investigation into the bidding process.
"The aim of the bid committee has always been to show that the Middle East is a realistic option for staging the FIFA World Cup and it has worked extremely hard to bring the tournament to the Middle East for the first time," the statement said.
"To have this achievement tarnished by completely unsubstantiated and false allegations and for those allegations to be propounded by the parliament of the United Kingdom is something we find distressing, insulting and incomprehensible."
Qatar alleged that the whisteblower was probably a former employee "with a significant axe to grind."
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