The allegations against the billionaire, former FIFA board member Mohamed Bin Hammam, surfaced in the newspaper, which accuses him of giving FIFA members cash and lavish gifts in return for their votes. Sunday Times reporter Jonathan Calvert told ABC News there was no doubt Bin Hammam is using a secret fund to bribe football officials worldwide. ABC News also reported that the expose was the result of a leak of documents surrounding the bidding.
Allegations surfaced when a FIFA vice president was forced to resign after accepting more than US$1 million from Bin Hammam. FIFA has begun an internal investigation to back its claim that the vote was fair.
The 2022 organizing committee says that the bribery claims are a tactic, a way to interfere with the proceedings of the 2022 World Cup.
Qatari organizers say that though Bin Hammam is a former FIFA executive, he played no official or unofficial role in the 2022 bid.
