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Men's Football Did Qatar offer Fifa £307 millon bribe?

AN INVESTIGATION should be launched into claims that Qatar offered Fifa £307 million just three weeks before world football’s governing body awarded the 2022 World Cup to the desert state, according to Tory MP Damian Collins.

Documents published by Rupert Murdoch’s The Sunday Times appear to show that executives from Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera signed a television contract making the offer as the bidding campaigns to host the World Cup came to a close.

The alleged contract included a fee of £77m that would be paid into a designated Fifa account if Qatar was successful in the World Cup ballot in 2010.

Al Jazeera was owned and controlled by Qatar’s emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who was the driving force behind the bid.

The Sunday Times also alleges that a further £368m was offered by Qatar three years later.

Collins, who is the chairman of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, called on Fifa to freeze the payments from Al Jazeera and launch an investigation into the apparent contract that “appears to be in clear breach of the rules.”

In an email response to questions from The Sunday Times on Friday, Fifa wrote that “allegations linked to the Fifa World Cup 2022 bid have already been extensively commented by Fifa, who in June 2017 published the Garcia report in full on Fifa.com.

“Furthermore, please note that Fifa lodged a criminal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, which is still pending. Fifa is and will continue to co-operate with the authorities.”

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