Qatar is known for its dough (and Doha), and its notorious reputation may have just got the best of the Gulf state once again.
The UK-based Daily Telegraph reported this week that the former vice-president of FIFA Jack Warner and his family were paid nearly $2 million from a Qatari firm linked to the 2022 World Cup bid shortly after Doha received the go-ahead to host the international event in what played out to be a very controversial process, according to Agence France Presse.
The payout allegedly came from a firm that is controlled by former Qatari Official Mohamed Bin Hammam. Warner was paid approximately $1.2 million and $750,000 was paid to his sons according to documents obtained by the Telegraph. Another $400,000 was also paid to one of Warner's employees.
Bin Hammam resigned from his FIFA post in 2012 shortly before he was scheduled to be officially banned for life from football administration by the organization's ethics committee.
Warner was one of 22 people who were responsible for awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
