London: Football’s world governing body is facing calls to rerun the 2022 World Cup bid after an investigation by The Daily Telegraph revealed that a former official and his family were paid almost $2 million (Dh7.34 million) from a firm linked to Qatar’s successful campaign.

Senior MPs have said that Fifa should open an inquiry into the revelations and that the organisation should also consider stripping the Gulf state of the right to host the tournament.

Clive Efford, the shadow sports minister, said: “Fifa should carry out a full investigation. It looks like there may have been serious corruption in the bid and it has to raise serious concerns about sending the World Cup to Qatar. If Fifa looks into all the information and finds that there is a corruption, they should reopen the bidding process.”

John Whittingdale, chairman of the parliamentary culture, media and sport select committee, said that the payments “provide further evidence that casts doubt over the credibility of the entire process to select Qatar as the country to host the 2022 World Cup”.

Tessa Jowell, a former Labour secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said of the disclosures made in The Daily Telegraph: “These are very surprising revelations.

“It’s a very large amount of money and in everyone’s interests, including [the former Fifa official] Jack Warner’s, that this matter is investigated.”

The Labour MP Paul Farrelly added that “if wrongdoing is found, the tournament should be moved elsewhere”.

The Daily Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that Warner, the former vice-president of Fifa, appears to have been personally paid $1.2 million (£720,000) from a company controlled by a former Qatari football official shortly after the decision to award the country the tournament.

Payments totalling almost $750,000 were made to Warner’s sons, documents show. A further $400,000 was paid to one of his employees. The payments were made by a Qatari-based company, Kemco, which is owned by Mohammad Bin Hammam, the former executive committee member for the Gulf state.

It is understood that the FBI is now investigating Trinidad-based Warner and his alleged links to the Qatari bid, and that the former Fifa official’s eldest son, who lives in Miami, has been helping the inquiry as a cooperating witness. The investigators are thought to be focusing on Warner’s American and Grand Cayman bank accounts.

Michael Garcia, the joint chief investigator of Fifa’s ethics committee, is also investigating irregularities surrounding the bidding process. He is expected to deliver his report to the committee later this year. Warner resigned from all football positions in 2011 amid allegations of bribery linked to Bin Hammam’s attempt to unseat Sepp Blatter as Fifa president. Bin Hammam was banned from “any kind of football-related activity” by Fifa, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban in July 2012 due to a lack of evidence.

A new investigation into his financial dealings, which dated back to his time in charge of Asian football was set up by Fifa’s ethics committee, and this led to a new life ban in 2012. The awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was one of the most controversial decisions in sporting history.

The intense summer heat in the desert nation has raised the prospect of the tournament being moved to the winter for the first time. Although Qatar has repeatedly denied wrongdoing during the bidding process, it has long been suspected that the decision was flawed, and several members of the Fifa committee have faced corruption allegations.

One document seen by The Daily Telegraph states that more than $1 million should be paid to Warner to cover “professional services provided over the period 2005-2010”.

However, a separate document says that payments are to “offset legal and other expenses”.

The revelations have fuelled concerns that some Fifa executive committee members were not impartial when they cast votes in December 2010.

England suffered a humiliation when it secured only two votes to host the 2018 World Cup and was eliminated after the first round. Damian Collins, a Conservative MP and former member of the parliamentary committee that held an inquiry into England’s failed 2018 bid, said: “I think this raises a big concern that the decision to give Qatar the World Cup was based on money, not based on sporting interests.”

Simon Johnson, the chief operating officer for the England 2018 bid, who was interviewed by Garcia last year, said: “This is a very disturbing piece of evidence that The Daily Telegraph has found and it is right and proper that Fifa fully considers the evidence that has been uncovered and that any evidence which is in any way relevant to the award of the 2018 or 2022 Fifa World Cup is made available to the investigation being conducted by Michael Garcia.”

Warner and his family declined to comment. A spokesman for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee said: “The 2022 bid committee strictly adhered to Fifa’s bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics. “The supreme committee for delivery and legacy and the individuals involved in the 2022 bid committee are unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals.”

Bin Hammam did not respond to calls requesting comment.

 

The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2014