“We will give you this money, you give us your vote”- 2022 FIFA World Cup bidding officials disclose bribing during Qatar event
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Three African officials allegedly received bribes to support Qatar’s World Cup bid, according to a member of the group. According to The Sun, one official made the accusations in the controversial FIFA Uncovered Netflix series.
Issa Hayatou from Cameroon, Jacques Anouma from Ivory Coast, and Amos Adamu from Nigeria, according to Phaedra Almajid, who oversaw the bid’s international press, allege they were each given A$2.3 million in exchange for casting their ballots. For the right to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, Qatar competed against nations such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
Almajid claims that Hassan Al Thawadi, the bid’s coordinator, offered a sizeable sum to African football officials in exchange for their support. The Times reported what she said in the documentary: “We were talking about how Africa had been given its chance to host the World Cup and how the Arab world should be given their chance, and then Hassan offered Hayatou $1 million for Hayatou’s football federation (Cameroon) and in return we wanted his vote.”
“I remember there just being laughter and then him saying that is not enough, and so the price was upped to A$2.3m — just like that. It was just so simple: ‘We will give you this money for your football federation, you give us your vote and thank you so much.’ One by one we did the same thing with Anouma and Adamu. A$2.3m was offered to each member that evening in exchange for their vote. It was verbal, I never saw money.”
Qatar football has previously threatened accuser of lawsuit for exposing their unrevealed truth of 2022 FIFA World Cup
She believes that in January 2010, the offer was made during a gathering of African football federations. She does emphasise that the federations, not the people, were the recipients of the planned contribution. She added: “It was made very clear the money was going to football, it was never said it is going into your pocket, I do need to emphasise that. Where it ended up I have no idea.”
“Before I went back to my hotel room, Hassan told me, ‘You never repeat this ever again to anyone’ and I was like, ‘OK,’” she added. After being fired, Almajid had previously exposed the proposals to the Sunday Times under dubious circumstances. She later withdrew her statements after the Qatar football threatened her a lawsuit action.
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Sujeeth Shetty
(766 Articles Published)