Champagne pours cold water on Qatar World Cup vote talk
CALLING a re-vote for the right to host the 2022 World Cup, following allegations of corruption surrounding Qatar’s winning bid, is “too simplistic”, a leading world football official has claimed.
Jerome Champagne, who worked for Fifa for more than a decade and is running to be the governing body’s president, yesterday cast doubt on the practicality of a re-vote even if Qatar is found guilty.
“It is too simplistic just to say there should be a re-vote,” he said. “Would Qatar be allowed to re-submit a bid if these allegations are proved? Can you imagine that happening? I don’t know. Is an athlete allowed to run again if he is guilty of doping? It is just conjecture at this stage, but just to say there should be a re-vote is far too simplistic.”
Clamour for a fresh bidding process grew at the weekend following the Sunday Times’ claim that it has millions of emails and other documents implicating Qatar and former Asian football head Mohamed Bin Hammam. Qatar has strongly denied the allegations.
American lawyer Michael Garcia is close to completing his investigation for Fifa into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.