Fresh World Cup corruption claims

Calls have been made for the contest to host the 2022 World Cup to be re-run if allegations about corruption in the bidding process are true.

The Sunday Times said it had seen a cache of files which exposed that Qatar’s victory in securing the tournament was sealed by a covert campaign by the disgraced former football official, Mohamed bin Hammam.

The newspaper said the former Qatari vice president of Fifa, world football’s governing body, used secret slush funds to make dozens of payments totalling over $5m (€3.6m) to senior football officials to create a groundswell of support for Qatar’s bid.

It said he used 10 slush funds controlled by his private company and cash handouts to make dozens of payments of up to $200,000 into accounts controlled by the presidents of African football associations who held sway over how the continent’s four executive members would vote.

Jim Murphy, Britain’s opposition international development secretary, called for the decision to be cancelled if the claims were found to be true.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics: “I think the Qatar decision has always been controversial of course, but sometimes it was seen by the Qataris as sour grapes from the English or others across Britain. But if these allegations and the contents of the emails that The Sunday Times now has turn out to be true there can be no question about this.

“The thing wasn’t done fairly, it wasn’t done openly and it would have to be cancelled and re-run entirely.

“The building that is happening in Qatar should be paused and they should have a fair and open competition. The failure to do so would amount to the biggest crisis in Fifa since its formation in 1904.”

John Whittingdale, chair of Britain’s Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said: “My committee examined allegations two years ago that there had been corrupt payments involved in the decision, and we called for a full, transparent investigation.

“However, since then, Fifa have attempted to brush off the allegations and not taken them anything like sufficiently seriously.”

Mr Whittingdale called for “an urgent and full transparent investigation to establish the facts”.

He said Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s position was “almost untenable” as he had been very dismissive of the allegations over the past couple of years and did not appear to have taken them seriously.

The Sunday Times said the official Qatar bid committee had always insisted Mr Bin Hammam was an entirely separate individual who had nothing to do with the bid.

The newspaper said the bid committee was quick to disown him when he was banned from world football in 2011 after being caught bribing voters in his campaign to be elected Fifa president.

However, the leaked documents show how he worked with the leaders of the bid and lobbied key voters, arranging lavish junkets paid for by the 2022 team, at which he offered football officials large payments in exchange for their support, the newspaper said.

Mr Bin Hammam has always strenuously denied any wrongdoing.