Allegations of "vote-buying by the winning Russian and Qatari World Cup campaigns are contained in a secret database lying in the vaults of the England 2018 bid," according to the SUNDAY TIMES. The "existence of the database and some of its allegations" are revealed in a "dossier compiled by The Sunday Times that has been submitted to a House of Commons committee, at its request," and which was published on Saturday. Officials from England’s World Cup bid gathered "detailed information from ex-MI6 agents hired to spy on its rivals and British embassies around the world, according to the dossier." The intelligence database contained "incendiary" claims that Qatar and Russia were "suspected of using their vast sovereign wealth to seal key support and that the two countries were thought to have swapped votes in a 'collusion' pact brokered through a massive bilateral gas deal." Sources "close to the England bid's intelligence-gathering operation" said that its database on rival bids "included unproven allegations" that:
- The winning Qatari and Russian bids were "suspected of trading votes in a
deal alleged to have been brokered through a huge joint gas extraction
project in Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula."
- Qatar was believed to have "bought" the vote of the Thai exec
committee member Worawi Makudi through "investments in his holiday
resort companies." Makudi declined to comment.
- The Gulf state's "sovereign wealth fund was suspected of sealing the
support" of the Cypriot voter Marios Lefkaritis with a £27M ($42.3M) land deal.
Lefkaritis said his vote was "not influenced."
- The vote of the former World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer was "allegedly
touted for sale by two associates who asked bidding countries for
consultancy fees of millions of pounds in return." Beckenbauer said he "could not comment because he was under investigation" by FIFA over his
conduct in the bidding contest.
- Russia was "suspected of having raided the vaults of State Hermitage Museum or the Kremlin archives to give expensive paintings to key voters." Michel D’Hooghe, the Belgian voter, has "acknowledged receiving a landscape painting from an adviser to the country’s 2018 bid but says he thought it was 'absolutely ugly' and valueless."
The dossier "also reveals that the England bid team was in breach" of FIFA's rules by "agreeing to a vote-swap between their own voter and the representative for South Korea's 2022 World Cup campaign on the eve of the secret ballot" (
SUNDAY TIMES, 11/30).
CANVASSING VOTERS: The SUNDAY TIMES reported in a separate piece the database identifies two FIFA officials who were "allegedly given valuable works of art by Viacheslav Koloskov," a former Russian FIFA exec committee member working for the 2018 bid. One was UEFA President Michel Platini, who is "alleged to have been offered a painting, believed to be a Picasso, as part of Russia 2018 lobbying before the vote." Platini "strongly denies he has ever 'received' any painting as a gift" (
SUNDAY TIMES, 11/30).
BLATTER DEFIANT: REUTERS' Patrick Johnston reported a "defiant" FIFA President Sepp Blatter said that there "would be no moving the 2022 World Cup from Qatar, despite widespread concerns about the bidding process that took the tournament to the Middle East for the first time." Blatter: "2022, it is Qatar, and ladies and gentleman, believe me, with all that has been said around the world by whom? Those not involved with what happens in football. The World Cup in 2022 will be played in Qatar" (REUTERS, 11/30). Johnston reported in a separate piece Qatar World Cup Organizing Committee Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi said on Sunday that the Gulf nation was "already feeling the benefits of staging the tournament." He also "assured Asian Football Confederation members they too would also feel" the positive effects of a first World Cup in the Middle East (REUTERS, 11/30).
