Qatar to be stripped of 2022 World Cup, according to country's whistleblower Phaedra Al-Majid says FIFA will be left with no option than to find new host Miss Al-Majid worked for Qatar's 2022 bid team until early 2010 She is now under the protective custody of the FBI Majid believes Blatter may now try to remove 2022 from Qatar as part of a radical reform agenda to win him praise ‘and save his skin' By NICK HARRIS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 23:01 GMT, 6 June 2015 | UPDATED: 10:15 GMT, Qatar are likely be stripped of the 2022 World Cup, according to a former senior figure in their bid team, who turned whistleblower to expose corruption. Phaedra Almajid says the weight of evidence of wrongdoing from her and others will be so overwhelming that FIFA will be left with no option but to find another host. Almajid has been under protective custody of the FBI and she fears her safety will be compromised further if the tournament is taken away from the tiny oil-rich state, who shocked the world by winning the right to stage the 2022 event in 2010. please log in to view this image +5 Phaedra Almajid spoke exclusively to the Mail on Sunday and revealed how she had been treated please log in to view this image +5 FIFA president Sepp Blatter announces Qatar as the hosts for the 2022 World Cup in December 2010 While hoping justice is done, Almajid admits that the prospect ‘scares me a lot’ because some ‘extremists’ may feel she played a role in that happening. She said: ‘There are people who are p***** off with me [for speaking out], and what really p***** them off is that I’m a female, Muslim whistleblower.’ Another consequence of recent events, Almajid believes, is that outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter may try to take 2022 from Qatar as part of a radical reform agenda designed to win him praise ‘and save his skin.’ RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next FIFA’s secret 2026 TV rights giveaway to US network Fox... please log in to view this image Irish FA clarify five million euro 'inducement' made by FIFA... please log in to view this image We don't want a Sepp Blatter Mark II, says Greg Dyke as FA... please log in to view this image Sepp Blatter continues his work as FIFA president despite... SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share 5k shares Speaking for the first time since Blatter announced he wants a new election to pick his successor Almajid said: ‘I just don’t think Blatter actually intends to quit. Everything he does is very calculated. He’ll try very hard to save himself, I’m sure of it.’ Almajid, an Arab-American now based in the US, worked for Qatar’s 2022 bid team until early 2010. She told the Mail on Sunday last year that a subsequent retraction of her allegations was coerced. In fear of her safety for herself and her family - she has two children, one of them severely disabled - she was taken into the protective custody of the FBI. The FBI are leading the investigation which has led to 14 arrests, with even more expected. ‘The FBI have everything,’ she said. Almajid also co-operated fully with a FIFA-funded probe led by Michael Garcia, a former US attorney for New York. Will these Qatar stadium masterpieces need to be scrapped? please log in to view this image please log in to view this image +5 Blatter hands over the Jules Rimet trophy to the Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Disgraced Warner in negotiations Disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who has previously vowed to fight extradition, is in ‘tentative negotiations’ to talk to American law enforcers, The Mail on Sunday has learned. A source close to the Trinidadian, accused of taking a £6.5million bribe from South Africa to vote for it to stage the 2010 World Cup, said: ‘Jack has finally come to terms with the reality of his situation. ‘His lawyers are negotiating with the US to try to minimise whatever consequences are coming his way.’ When another FIFA official, Hans-Joachim Eckert, released a summary of Garcia’s findings last November, Eckert claimed there were ‘serious concerns’ about Almajid’s credibility. She had been guaranteed anonymity by Garcia. Instead she saw Eckert’s summary as a clear attempt by FIFA to smear her. ‘I’m still furious with the way I was portrayed,’ she says. ‘I was stupid enough to trust that FIFA wanted to find the truth.’ Almajid insists that her anger today, however, is most intense on behalf of others who have been victims of human rights violations in Qatar, across many different sectors of society. This anger in turn is also aimed at FIFA, a body that handed Qatar the 2022 World Cup.
Fifa corruption: Documents show details of Jack Warner 'bribes' By Ed ThomasBBC News, Trinidad 3 hours ago From the sectionLatin America & Caribbean Jump media player Media player help Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue. Media captionEd Thomas reports on what happened to $10m sent from Fifa to accounts controlled by Jack Warner 'One of sport's most dramatic falls' Mountain goats and tighter shorts Who are the indicted Fifa officials? Is US now overreaching in Fifa scandal? A BBC investigation has seen evidence that details what happened to the $10m sent from Fifa to accounts controlled by former vice-president Jack Warner. The money, sent on behalf of South Africa, was meant to be used for its Caribbean diaspora legacy programme. But documents suggest Mr Warner used the payment for cash withdrawals, personal loans and to launder money. The 72-year-old, who has been indicted by the FBI for corruption, denies all claims of wrongdoing. The papers seen by the BBC detail three wire transfers by Fifa. In the three transactions - on 4 January, 1 February and 10 March 2008 - funds totalling $10m (£6.5m) from Fifa accounts were received into Concacaf accounts controlled by Jack Warner. At the time, he was in charge of the body, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean. Personal payouts The money had been promised by South Africa's Football Association for its so-called diaspora legacy programme to develop football in the Caribbean. please log in to view this image The documents detail exactly how and when the money was transferred The documents reveal how the money was spent and moved around. JTA Supermarkets, a large chain in Trinidad, received $4,860,000 from the accounts. The money was paid in instalments from January 2008 to March 2009. The largest payment was $1,350,000 paid in February 2008. US prosecutors say the money was mostly paid back to Mr Warner in local currency. please log in to view this image Jack Warner: The US charge sheet please log in to view this image Jack Warner has promised to reveal more details about what went on at Fifa Accused of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, bribery From the early 1990s, he allegedly "began to leverage his influence and exploit his official positions for personal gain" Allegedly accepted a $10m bribe from South African officials in return for voting to award them the 2010 World Cup Allegedly bribed officials with envelopes each containing $40,000 in cash; when one demurred, he allegedly said: "There are some people here who think they are more pious than thou. If you're pious, open a church, friends. Our business is our business" Key questions answered Chuck Blazer: Fifa 'supergrass' Who are the indicted officials? Fifa in crisis - Special Reports please log in to view this image The BBC gave details of its investigation to Brent Sancho, Trinidad and Tobago's sports minister and a former footballer. He said: "He [Mr Warner] must face justice, he must answer all of these questions. Justice has to be served. "He will have to account, with this investigation, he will have to answer for his actions." The documents also show $360,000 of the Fifa money was withdrawn by people connected to Mr Warner. please log in to view this image Huge sums of money were used to pay off credit cards and personal loans please log in to view this image A Trinidad supermarket received almost $5m Nearly $1.6m was used to pay the former Fifa vice-president's credit cards and personal loans. The documents show the largest personal loan Mr Warner provided for himself was $410,000. The largest credit card payment was $87,000. Mr Sancho says he is now angry and disappointed. "I'm devastated because a lot of that money should have been back in football, back in the development of children playing the sport. "It is a travesty. Mr Warner should answer the questions," he added. 'The gloves are off' Jack Warner is one of 14 people charged by US prosecutors over alleged corruption at Fifa. The US Justice department alleges the 14 accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period. Mr Warner denies all charges of corruption. please log in to view this image He resigned from Fifa's executive committee and all other football commitments in 2011 amid allegations he had bribed his Caribbean associates. He later stepped down as Trinidad and Tobago's security minister amid a fraud inquiry. A key figure in the deepening scandal, in a recent statement he said he had given lawyers documents outlining the links between Fifa, its funding, himself and the 2010 election in Trinidad and Tobago. He said the transactions also included Mr Blatter. "I will no longer keep secrets for them who actively seek to destroy the country," he said in an address on Trinidadian TV last week entitled "The gloves are off". Speaking to his supporters at a rally later the same day, he promised an "avalanche" of revelations to come. Mr Warner, who faces extradition to the US, was released on bail after handing himself in to police in the Trinidad and Tobago capital Port of Spain last week. He says he is an innocent scapegoat who will soon reveal the truth of what happened inside Fifa. The announcement of the FBI charges in late May has driven Fifa into its greatest crisis; last week its president, Sepp Blatter announced he was stepping down, only days after being re-elected to a fifth term. Additional reporting by Ashley Semler and Peter Murtaug.
There's too much to sort out to include Russia (or anyone else without definite evidence) yet. If the FBI is correct in saying cases going back 24 years are active, then we're looking at USA, France, South Korea and Japan, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar. South Africa and Qatar are the only ones with published evidence against them yet. I'd also go back to a point I made on an earlier thread. Who instigated the bribes (even if bribes are proven in some cases). It was important to nourish American support for soccer that the USA was given the 1994 games, By 2002, the world was ready for an Asian games. South Korea and Japan were relatively wealthy nations with good facilities, so they were decent candidates. By 2010, the world was ready for an African venue, and by 2014, South America was due, not having had a series since 1986. After games in Africa and South America, Russia wasn't a bad choice either. So did these countries offer bribes, or were bribes demanded of them by FIFA? I think it's important to sort out intent, don't you? I think a lot of those candidates would have won their bids with or without bribes - unless FIFA demanded them.
Russia - Doesn't particularly like homosexuality Qatar - Like to hang them from a great height The prerogative is to strip Qatar surely.
I can't see how Qatar can actually go ahead? It's plain to see it was a total bribe that won it for them. How the hell players are supposed to play in that heat, or the spectators supposed to Watch? The whole thing is an absolute farce. Bloody ridiculous.
Not to mention that any footballer attending should feel like they have got blood on their hands given the number of deaths during the building of the stadiums etc.
From what I understand, the actual alcohol issue for anyone visiting Qatar is very restrictive. Here in the UAE the liquor laws are pretty relaxed, but in Qatar its very much tighter. So apart from blistering heat for both players and spectators, anyone who wants a drink (and lets face it, most fans go to these tournaments for a good pi$$ up) then that's a problem as well. It was a farce giving any middle east country the world cup. Give it to Australia, now there's a place who knows how to put on a show and give the fans a good time.
If I was a footballer I wouldn't want to play World Cup football in any Muslim country at the mo! Might as well paint a massive target on the forehead!
Psssssssssssst ! let's get a bid in now for England to host and throw £10 m quid in, no brown envelopes though or dark sunglasses, now keep it quiet. You cannot drink in Qatar (disastrous for Scotland supporters !)and the women supporters cannot wear bikinis so that was them out from the start, give it back to Brazil or Australia. How the frig can you stage a tournament in the winter ?.