Despite Qatar's recent success in securing the hosting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which surpassed all expectations, suspicions persist regarding the Gulf nation offering bribes totaling millions of dollars to secure the hosting of the world's most popular tournament. This event marked the first time the World Cup was hosted in the Middle East and North Africa region, yet accusations against Qatar remain unresolved.
Leaked documents from Qatar National Bank (QNB) have revealed that the Qatari government paid over $553 million to members of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) committee responsible for voting on the host nations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments in late 2010.
These documents, which include names, account numbers, and transaction details, were presented by the Middle East Forum (MEF), an American research organization based in Philadelphia, to the federal court there which is considering an indictment against MEF by a former American lobby group that worked for the Qatari government. This information was disclosed in a recent report by "Tablet" magazine, which featured a collection of leaked confidential banking documents. It's important to note that MEF regularly reports on Qatar's support for Islamic movements in the region.
'Some received more substantial sums than others'.. Leaked documents from Qatar National Bank provide compelling evidence that Qatar offered nearly $550 million in bribes to 22 members of the FIFA committee that ultimately awarded the 2022 World Cup to Doha
"Tablet" magazine deemed the "ethical and legal compromises" made by FIFA for the Qatari government to organize the 2022 World Cup as indicative of corruption and bribery. These compromises include "tolerance of the host country's laws banning homosexuality and the grave violations against migrant workers at stadium construction sites."
The magazine underlines that Qatar's willingness to offer over half a billion dollars in bribes underscores the immense importance placed by the Qatari government on securing the tournament, even in the face of the nation's considerable oil wealth.
What do the documents reveal?
The records of the payments made to the FIFA committee members are detailed in a bank statement from one of Qatar's diplomatic accounts held at QNB in London. During the period spanning from February 2009 to December 2010, this account disbursed a total of around $553 million to roughly 22 individuals. The majority of these funds were directly credited to the accounts of 14 members of FIFA's executive committee, the body responsible for selecting the host nations for the World Cup. Some additional payments were directed to close relatives of committee members.
It's striking that the funds were sent in two installments, both before and after the vote that awarded Qatar the privilege of hosting the tournament in December 2010. Notably, in many cases, these funds were directed to "offshore" financial havens, such as Monaco and Jersey, where the level of scrutiny is notably less stringent.
These documents were subjected to scrutiny by Fiona Marsh, a forensic document analyst, who attested that she found no evidence indicating that these documents were inauthentic. Furthermore, independent groups of unaffiliated investigators have also verified the authenticity of these documents, as reported by "Tablet".
One individual whose name has come under scrutiny is Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti Minister of Sports at the time, who was on the brink of becoming a member of FIFA's executive committee. It was reported that a portion of these funds was transferred to dummy company accounts associated with him and two of his relatives via QNB. Sheikh Ahmed subsequently resigned from all of his football-related positions in April 2017 amidst allegations of corruption.
Qatari bank records unveiled that some of these funds were channeled into three accounts linked to a dummy company affiliated with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who later stepped down from all football-related positions in 2017 amidst corruption allegations
There was a noticeable discrepancy in the sums paid to sway the votes of certain FIFA committee members. For instance, Nicolas Leoz, the former president of the South American Football Confederation (now deceased), received $8.5 million. In contrast, Vitaly Mutko, who served as the Russian Minister of Sports from 2008 to 2016, successfully led Russia's successful 2018 FIFA World Cup bid, and held the position of Deputy Prime Minister from 2016 to 2020, received a staggering $72.6 million, along with a second payment of $34 million.
According to the account ledger from QNB, Charles Chuck Blazer, a member of FIFA's executive committee who voted in favor of granting Qatar the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup, received a sum of $21.9 million from the Qatari account. This individual, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 72, also admitted to receiving bribes in connection with the bids for hosting the World Cup finals in 1998 and 2010, by Morocco and South Africa respectively.
Harassment of American critics
In a related context, a number of individuals targeted with summons and subpoenas from law firms and pressure groups affiliated with Qatar are accusing the wealthy Gulf emirate and its American lawyers of exploiting the federal court system to intimidate their critics in the United States.
In early 2022, MEF (Middle East Forum) received a summons from Gregory Howard, who was formerly registered as a foreign agent for Qatar. MEF vehemently contests the summons and has recently filed a motion to quash it, asserting that it represents "a form of politically motivated harassment".
MEF has included in the documents submitted to the federal court materials related to broader issues concerning Qatari foreign policy, including account records from Qatar National Bank (QNB). In response to this legal battle, a spokesperson for MEF told Tablet, "We have no comment at this time. We will let the documents speak for themselves."
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jessika valentine -
5 days agoSo sad that a mom has no say in her children's lives. Your children aren't your own, they are their father's, regardless of what maltreatment he exposed then to. And this is Algeria that is supposed to be better than most Arab countries!
jessika valentine -
4 weeks agoحتى قبل إنهاء المقال من الواضح أن خطة تركيا هي إقامة دولة داخل دولة لقضم الاولى. بدأوا في الإرث واللغة والثقافة ثم المؤسسات والقرار. هذا موضوع خطير جدا جدا
Samia Allam -
1 month agoمن لا يعرف وسام لا يعرف معنى الغرابة والأشياء البسيطة جداً، الصدق، الشجاعة، فيها يكمن كل الصدق، كما كانت تقول لي دائماً: "الصدق هو لبّ الشجاعة، ضلك صادقة مع نفسك أهم شي".
العمر الطويل والحرية والسعادة لوسام الطويل وكل وسام في بلادنا
Abdulrahman Mahmoud -
1 month agoاعتقد ان اغلب الرجال والنساء على حد سواء يقولون بأنهم يبحثون عن رجل او امرة عصرية ولكن مع مرور الوقت تتكشف ما احتفظ به العقل الياطن من رواسب فكرية تمنعه من تطبيق ما كان يعتقد انه يريده, واحيانا قليلة يكون ما يقوله حقيقيا عند الارتباط. عن تجربة لم يناسبني الزواج سابقا من امرأة شرقية الطباع
محمد الراوي -
1 month agoفلسطين قضية كُل إنسان حقيقي، فمن يمارس حياته اليومية دون ان يحمل فلسطين بداخله وينشر الوعي بقضية شعبها، بينما هنالك طفل يموت كل يوم وعائلة تشرد كل ساعة في طرف من اطراف العالم عامة وفي فلسطين خاصة، هذا ليس إنسان حقيقي..
للاسف بسبب تطبيع حكامنا و أدلجة شبيبتنا، اصبحت فلسطين قضية تستفز ضمائرنا فقط في وقت احداث القصف والاقتحام.. واصبحت للشارع العربي قضية ترف لا ضرورة له بسبب المصائب التي اثقلت بلاد العرب بشكل عام، فيقول غالبيتهم “اللهم نفسي”.. في ضل كل هذه الانتهاكات تُسلخ الشرعية من جميع حكام العرب لسكوتهم عن الدم الفلسطيني المسفوك والحرمه المستباحه للأراضي الفلسطينية، في ضل هذه الانتهاكات تسقط شرعية ميثاق الامم المتحدة، وتصبح معاهدات جنيف ارخص من ورق الحمامات، وتكون محكمة لاهاي للجنايات الدولية ترف لا ضرورة لوجوده، الخزي والعار يلطخ انسانيتنا في كل لحضة يموت فيها طفل فلسطيني..
علينا ان نحمل فلسطين كوسام إنسانية على صدورنا و ككلمة حق اخيرة على ألسنتنا، لعل هذا العالم يستعيد وعيه وإنسانيته شيءٍ فشيء، لعل كلماتنا تستفز وجودهم الإنساني!.
وأخيرا اقول، ان توقف شعب فلسطين المقاوم عن النضال و حاشاهم فتلك ليست من شيمهم، سيكون جيش الاحتلال الصهيوني ثاني يوم في عواصمنا العربية، استكمالًا لمشروعه الخسيس. شعب فلسطين يقف وحيدا في وجه عدونا جميعًا..
محمد الراوي -
1 month agoبعيدًا عن كمال خلاف الذي الذي لا استبعد اعتقاله الى جانب ١١٤ الف سجين سياسي مصري في سجون السيسي ونظامه الشمولي القمعي.. ولكن كيف يمكن ان تاخذ بعين الاعتبار رواية سائق سيارة اجرة، انهكته الحياة في الغربة فلم يبق له سوى بعض فيديوهات اليوتيوب و واقع سياسي بائس في بلده ليبني عليها الخيال، على سبيل المثال يا صديقي اخر مره ركبت مع سائق تاكسي في بلدي العراق قال لي السائق بإنه سكرتير في رئاسة الجمهورية وانه يقضي ايام عطلته متجولًا في سيارة التاكسي وذلك بسبب تعوده منذ صغره على العمل!! كادحون بلادنا سرق منهم واقعهم ولم يبق لهم سوى الحلم والخيال يا صديقي!.. على الرغم من ذلك فالقصة مشوقة، ولكن المذهل بها هو كيف يمكن للاشخاص ان يعالجوا إبداعيًا الواقع السياسي البائس بروايات دينية!! هل وصل بنا اليأس الى الفنتازيا بان نكون مختارين؟!.. على العموم ستمر السنين و سيقلع شعب مصر العظيم بارادته الحرة رئيسًا اخر من كرسي الحكم، وسنعرف ان كان سائق سيارة الاجرة المغترب هو المختار!!.