The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has become the focus of fresh FIFA corruption allegations after the release of a new U.S. Department of Justice indictment which says bribes were paid to football officials to secure their votes for hosting rights.
FILE PHOTO: Workers walk towards the construction site of the Lusail stadium which will be build for the upcoming 2022 Fifa soccer World Cup during a stadium tour in Doha, Qatar, December 20, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
FIFA and the Qatar World Cup organisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Qatar and Russia’s World Cup bids have always denied paying bribes. “Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolas Leoz and co-conspirator #1 were offered and received bribe payments in exchange for their votes in favour of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup,” reads the indictment.
Alexei Sorokin, CEO of the local organising committee for Russia’s 2018 World Cup, told the Interfax news agency: “This is only the opinion of lawyers. We have repeatedly said that our bid was transparent. “Russia received the right to host the World Cup completely legally. It is in no way linked to any bribes. We reject this. And Russia hosted the best soccer World Cup in history, which we are proud of.”The Qatar World Cup organizers have been fending off allegations of corruption ever since the tiny Gulf state was awarded the 2022 tournament.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Federal Prosecutors Said Russia And Qatar Paid Bribes To Host World CupsFormer executives at 21st Century Fox also paid millions in bribes for soccer tournament rights, according to a new indictment in the long-running FIFA case.
Read more »
Former Fox Execs & Imagina CEO Charged In FIFA Bribery CaseTwo former senior executives at 21st Century Fox and the former co-CEO of Spanish media firm Imagina have been indicted by the U.S. Department Of Justice over their alleged role in a bribery scheme…
Read more »
Former Fox executives indicted in US FIFA corruption probeThe US prosecutors accused two former executives of 21st Century Fox Inc for paying millions of bribes to FIFA in exchange for lucrative rights to football matches.
Read more »
U.S. Prosecutors Charge Former Fox Sports Executives in FIFA Bribery CaseTwo former Fox Sports executives have been charged with participating in an alleged scheme to pay millions of dollars in bribes to soccer officials in exchange for broadcasting rights.
Read more »