Qatar grants $15M bribes to South American officials for World Cup

CAIRO – 29 November 2017: Qatar offered approximately $15 million to South American officials ahead of the FIFA executive committee vote to decide the host for the 2022 World Cup, according to former President of Colombia’s soccer federation Luis Bedoya.

Bedoya pled guilty to corruption charges in the FIFA trial and revealed that he was introduced to a Qatari TV representative ahead of the 2010 Champions League final. However, Bedoya said he could not remember the TV representative’s name.

The former president of Colombia’s soccer federation added that he met with the President of Ecuador’s federation Luis Chiriboga and President of Paraguay’s soccer federation Juan Angel Napout at a round table.

He testified that they were among other South American football officials who had agreed to the bribes offered by Qatar to sign a marketing and broadcast rights contract in 2010 for future Copa America tournaments in return for their support in Qatar’s bid for the World Cup. The group of six was offered $10 million or $15 million, which they would divide amongst themselves.

He also pointed out that Qatar attempted to influence three other voters from South America: Argentinean Julio Grondona, Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz and Brazilian Ricardo Teixeira.

Later this week, U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors revealed that Qatar paid $22 million to the former president of the Brazilian Confederation (CBF) Ricardo Teixeira to vote for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, French online news website Mediapart reported on Sunday.

Brazilian Justice Ministry and the FBI discovered the transfer after they had investigated the bank statements of Teixeira from an account he had opened at a Swiss-based facility called Pasche Monaco.

Mediapart reported that Qatari group, Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad & Sons Group (CSSG), transferred the payment to Teixeira’s bank account in January 2011; one month after Qatar was announced as the host of the international tournament.

"In early 2013, several transfers were in effect, issued the same day from his account, to Jack Warner who was then president of the Confederation of Football North America, Central America and the Caribbean, as well as Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Confederation of Asian Football, and Nicolas Leoz, president of the Confederation of South America,” Mediapart reported.

Teixeira who resigned from his role at the Brazilian Football Federation in 2012 was accused of money laundering and fraud throughout his 23-year tenure as boss. He voted for the tournament to be held in Qatar.

This came in light of former Argentinean football marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco’s confession on November 14 before the U.S. court on the corruption case that hit the International Federation of Football Association in 2015.

Burzaco also pointed out that the late FIFA senior vice-president Julio Grondona took $1 million to vote for Qatar to host the tournament in 2022.

Furthermore, three former South American football officials are currently on trial over accusations of being involved in a £120m bribery scheme, related to broadcasting and hosting rights for football tournaments.