Qatar’s 2022 football World Cup organisers vehemently denied any wrong-doing after a British newspaper alleged a top official paid more than US$5 million (Dh18.3m) to secure support in the bidding process.
The Sunday Times said it had obtained millions of emails, documents and bank transfers relating to alleged payments made by Qatari former top football official Mohamed bin Hammam.
It alleged that Bin Hammam, a former Asian Football Confederation president, used slush funds to pay cash to top football officials to win a “groundswell” of support for the tiny nation’s World Cup bid.
He was then on the executive committee of Fifa, the sport’s global governing body.
Bin Hammam, who launched an abortive challenge against incumbent Fifa president Sepp Blatter, resigned from his Fifa and AFC posts in 2012, shortly before he was banned for life from football administration by Fifa’s ethics committee.
Fifa is investigating the 2010 vote that awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and the 2018 tournament to Russia, following previous corruption accusations.
A report by Michael Garcia, a top US lawyer, is to be finalised this year.
He was due to meet senior officials from the Qatar 2022 organising committee in Oman on Monday.
In their response to the allegations, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said their bid “upheld the highest standard of ethics and integrity”.
Bin Hammam “played no official or unofficial role” in the bid committee, they said.
They said they were cooperating with Garcia and were “totally confident” that an “objective” inquiry would conclude Qatar won “fairly”.
“We vehemently deny all allegations of wrong-doing. We will take whatever steps are necessary to defend the integrity of Qatar’s bid,” it said in a statement.
“The right to host the tournament was won because it was the best bid.”
The allegations come just days ahead of Fifa’s annual congress, to be held in Sao Paulo between June 9 and 12, where Blatter is set to announce his candidacy for a fifth four-year term.
The decision to give the World Cup to Qatar, a small Arabian Gulf peninsula with little football history, provoked widespread condemnation because it will be held in the summer.
Blatter said in May that it was a mistake to choose Qatar because of the summer desert heat and wants the tournament switched to the northern hemisphere winter, for the first time, to get round the problem.
The Sunday Times put some of the cache of leaked documents online.
The broadsheet said Bin Hammam had made payments of up to $200,000 into 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.
Bin Hammam also paid $1.6 million into bank accounts controlled by Jack Warner, the former Fifa vice-president, $450,000 of which was before the vote for the World Cup, The Sunday Times said.
Warner was one of the 22 people who in 2010 decided to award Russia the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 tournament. He stood down in 2011.
British media have made repeated allegations about Qatar’s campaign to secure the tournament.
Two months ago, The Daily Telegraph alleged that a company owned by Bin Hammam had paid money to Warner.
Bin Hammam did not respond to questions from The Sunday Times and his son declined to comment on his behalf, the weekly said.
The new allegations will place Fifa under fresh pressure to re-run the vote for the 2022 World Cup hosting rights.
Jim Boyce from Northern Ireland, one of Fifa’s eight vice-presidents, told BBC radio he would be in favour of doing so if allegations of corruption in the Qatar bid were proven.
If Garcia finds “wrongdoing”, then Boyce said he would have “absolutely no problem whatsoever if the recommendation was for a re-vote”.
In the original December 2010 contest to host the tournament, Qatar received 11 votes, South Korea four, the United States and Japan three each, and Australia one in the first elimination round.
Qatar beat the United States by 14 votes to eight in the final round.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
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Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
