Qatar has been hit with fresh allegations of corruption over its controversial 2022 World Cup bid, as a new book claims its state TV company beIN Sports agreed a secret $100 million deal with Fifa if they won the vote.
The claims are made in a soon-to-be-released book, written by a whistleblower from inside Australia’s failed 2022 bid, Bonita Mersiades, who spent years investigating the case and interviewed former Fifa president Sepp Blatter as part of her research.
An advance summary of the book, released by The Mail on Sunday, also alleges that Mr Blatter knew Qatar would win the vote, beating the US, which had been the favourite. So sure was he of the outcome that he phoned then-president Barack Obama days before the vote to tell him the US would lose, it is claimed.
In an excerpt from the book, Mr Blatter says that Michel Platini, then-Uefa president, told him that he and several others on the 22-man voting Executive Committee (ExCo) were going to back Qatar.
However, after Qatar won, Mr Blatter was allegedly dismayed and wanted it stripped of the tournament.
He is understood to have tried twice to retract Qatar’s right to host the event, but on both occasions, he agreed to drop his complaints in exchange for the Emir’s guarantee that Mohamed bin Hammam, Qatar’s ExCo member, would not oppose him in the 2011 Fifa presidency election.
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Read more:
[ Qatar World Cup hit by fresh corruption scandal over ‘suspicious $22 million transfer’ ]
[ Fifa official took $1m bribe for Qatar's World Cup vote, court hears ]
[ Swiss prosecutors grill PSG’s Al Khelaifi over World Cup bribery claims ]
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The details of the secret deal that Mr Blatter made with broadcaster Al Jazeera, parent company of the beIN Sports channels, were also revealed in the book.
In the months before the December 2010 vote – and with Fifa executives worried about potentially low revenues from a Qatar win – the broadcaster agreed to pay Fifa $100 million if the country was successful in the vote.
According to the book, the deal was agreed with the involvement of Jerome Valcke, who was at the time secretary general of Fifa but subsequently banned for nine years from football for corruption.
The book says: “Valcke's concerns about revenue growth in relation to Qatar were assuaged when negotiations commenced in October 2010 for a bonus payment of $100m to Fifa from Al Jazeera if Qatar won 2022. There was no way he could turn it down. According to former Fifa staff, Valcke's share was generally five per cent for negotiating the deal.”
When Ms Mersiades asked Mr Blatter about the deal, he is alleged to have shrugged and simply said: “Sponsors and broadcasters pay bonuses all the time. That is not unusual.”
When asked about the alleged payment by The Mail on Sunday, beIN Sports did not deny it but instead said that such a payment is "standard market practice" and "often imposed upon broadcasters by sports federations and sports rights holders".
It added: “There is clearly a significant uplift in interest and additional revenues to a broadcaster and significant additional local production costs to a rights holder when a major sports event is awarded in a broadcaster's domestic market. The relevant media agreements were standalone from any bid, and were in no way intended to influence the outcome of the vote.”
Other allegations made by the book include claims of bribery against German footballing hero and former Fifa ExCo member Franz Beckenbauer during the Australian bid.
The book is due to be launched on Wednesday.
RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45'+3), Batshuayi (85')
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Name: Elmawkaa
Based: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Founders: Ebrahem Anwar, Mahmoud Habib and Mohamed Thabet
Sector: PropTech
Total funding: $400,000
Investors: 500 Startups, Flat6Labs and angel investors
Number of employees: 12
UAE Warriors 45 Results
Main Event
: Lightweight Title
Amru Magomedov def Jakhongir Jumaev - Round 1 (submission)
Co-Main Event
: Bantamweight
Rany Saadeh def Genil Franciso - Round 2 (submission)
Catchweight 150 lbs
Walter Cogliandro def Ali Al Qaisi - Round 1 (TKO)
Bantamweight
Renat Khavalov def Hikaru Yoshino - Round 2 (TKO)
Flyweight
Victor Nunes def Nawras Abzakh - Round 1 (TKO)
Flyweight
Yamato Fujita def Sanzhar Adilov - Round 1 (submission)
Lightweight
Abdullo Khodzhaev def Petru Buzdugen - Round 1 (TKO)
Catchweight 139 lbs
Razhabali Shaydullaev def Magomed Al-Abdullah - Round 2 (submission)
Flyweight
Cong Wang def Amena Hadaya - Points (unanimous decision)
Middleweight
Khabib Nabiev def Adis Taalaybek Uulu - Round 2 (submission)
Light Heavyweight
Bartosz Szewczyk def Artem Zemlyakov - Round 2 (TKO)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qureos
Based: UAE
Launch year: 2021
Number of employees: 33
Sector: Software and technology
Funding: $3 million
'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore'
Rating: 3/5
Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Mads Mikkelson, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Jude Law
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: PlanRadar
Started: 2013
Co-founders: Ibrahim Imam, Sander van de Rijdt, Constantin Köck, Clemens Hammerl, Domagoj Dolinsek
Based: Vienna, Austria
Sector: Construction and real estate
Current number of staff: 400+
Investment stage: Series B
Investors: Headline, Berliner Volksbank Ventures, aws Gründerfonds, Cavalry Ventures, Proptech1, Russmedia, GR Capital
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Shaffra
Started: 2023
Based: DIFC Innovation Hub
Sector: metaverse-as-a-Service (MaaS)
Investment: currently closing $1.5 million seed round
Investment stage: pre-seed
Investors: Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi and different PCs and angel investors from Saudi Arabia
Number of staff: nine
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
EA Sports FC 24
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, PC and Xbox One
Rating: 3.5/5
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
RESULTS
1.45pm: Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winners: Hyde Park, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
2.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Shamikh, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
2.45pm: Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Hurry Up, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3.15pm: Shadwell Jebel Ali Mile Group 3 (TB) Dh575,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Blown by Wind, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
3.45pm: Handicap (TB) Dh72,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Mazagran, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
4.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh64,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner: Obeyaan, Adrie de Vries, Mujeeb Rehman
4.45pm: Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Shanaghai City, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick
Created by: Greg Coolidge, Shawn Simmons, Kirk Ward
Stars: Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada
Rating: 3/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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