Menu
International Football

Banned FIFA Official Mayne-Nicholls Asked For Favor From Qatar, Documents Reveal

The FIFA official in charge of assessing the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids "requested 'personal favours' from Qatar days after embarking on an inspection of the country, documents reveal," according to Newell, Malnick, Telford & Heighton of the London TELEGRAPH. Correspondence shows how Harold Mayne-Nicholls "wrote to a sports organisation linked to the Qatari bid seeking specialist training in the country for family members, shortly before he issued his report on the Gulf state." Mayne-Nicholls, the Chilean chairman of the inspection team that assessed each country bidding to host the tournament, "emailed Andreas Bleicher, who helps run Aspire, a Qatari government-backed sports development body, asking if they could 'evaluate and train' his son and nephew." He also highlighted how his brother-in-law, a former Davis Cup player, "is really interested in having a chance to coach tennis in a professional way in Qatar," adding, "May I give him your email and you inform him about any possibility[?]." The documents "show how the two sides discussed his proposal in detail." Aspire "offered to cover the cost of accommodating" Mayne-Nicholls’s son and nephew. However, the organization performed an about-turn, saying that "it would have to decline the request on the grounds that 'it might leave space for incorrect interpretations.'" The disclosures of his exchanges with Aspire "come after he was suspended from all football activity for seven years following a FIFA investigation into his conduct, which is understood to have examined the correspondence." On Monday he said that "he would appeal" (TELEGRAPH, 7/7).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: April 25, 2024

Motor City's big weekend; Kevin Warren's big bet; Bill Belichick's big makeover and the WNBA's big week continues

TNT’s Stan Van Gundy, ESPN’s Tim Reed, NBA Playoffs and NFL Draft

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with TNT’s Stan Van Gundy as he breaks down the NBA Playoffs from the booth. Later in the show, we hear from ESPN’s VP of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed as the NFL Draft gets set to kick off on Thursday night in Motown. SBJ’s Tom Friend also joins the show to share his insights into NBA viewership trends.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/07/09/International-Football/FIFA-scandal-MayneNicholls.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/07/09/International-Football/FIFA-scandal-MayneNicholls.aspx

CLOSE