FIFA Urged by Council of Europe to Rerun 2022 Qatar World Cup Vote

The voting process for the 2022 FIFA World Cup—scheduled to be held in Qatar—has been branded as “radically flawed” amid suggestions of bribery and corruption by the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, prompting claims that balloting for the tournament should be rerun.    

As noted by Owen Gibson of The Guardian, a report released by the organisation has cited substantial sums that were paid to African football officials by Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam, the former FIFA vice president.

Gustavo Ferrari/Associated Press

It is claimed by the Council that these payments assisted in securing votes for Qatar’s World Cup bid from the Confederation of African Football.

Here’s an extract from Gibson's report:

"

Given the structured action of this scale and the sums involved, there can be no doubt that there was a direct correlation between these flagrant irregularities and the outcome of the vote. ...

In these circumstances, Fifa cannot evade the obligation to hold a new vote under its new rules on the allocation of major events including the World Cup.

"

The report also commented on the apparent ease with which FIFA openly dismissed the findings of an extensive investigation carried out by U.S. lawyer Michael Garcia into the bidding processes behind the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The Council is quoted as being “amazed” at subsequent dismissive comments that were made by Hans-Joachim Eckert. The adjudicatory head of FIFA’s ethics committee claimed that Garcia's findings were "incomplete and erroneous", per the BBC.