By Andrew Warshaw
January 27 – In an unusual case that once again highlights the sensitivity surrounding Qatar winning the right to stage the 2022 World Cup, officials of the Gulf state are suing former FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger for referring to them as a “cancerous growth on world football” .
Zwanziger, who headed the German football association (DFB) until 2012, made the comments last year when asked in a TV interview whether the decision to let Qatar stage the tournament should be reviewed as corruption allegations swirled around football’s world governing body.
According to a Dusseldorf court statement, Zwanziger told public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk a review was “possible and necessary” and added: “I have always said that Qatar was a cancerous growth on world football. It all started with that decision.”
Switzerland’s prosecutor is investigating the bidding process behind the decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, but there is no evidence yet to suggest bid officials broke any rules.
Ironically Zwanziger, who stepped down from FIFA’s inner circle last year, was the official appointed to liaise with the Qatari authorities over the welfare of construction workers and Qatar’s FA said the cancer remark showed collective disrespect and was slanderous.
The Qataris seek to prevent Zwanziger, who was elected to his FIFA post by European members from 2011-2015, repeating such comments. He has been a long-standing critic of the Qatar World Cup but claims his words were directed not against a person or Qatari institution, but FIFA’s system of awarding the 2022 World Cup and the choice of Qatar per se.
The Dusseldorf regional court said the case, with the amount in dispute put at €100,000, will start on February 2.
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