September 27 – An international arrest warrant was been issued by a French judge for former AFC president and FIFA vice president Mohamed bin Hamman (pictured) in connection with allegations over the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar in 2010.
French authorities have been conducting a long-running investigation into how Qatar won the World Cup.
The arrest warrant for Bin Hamman (which in reality is never likely to be executed) was issued in connection with the role that Reynald Temarii played in the voting process for the award of 2022 hosting.
Temarii, a French citizen from Tahiti, in 2010 was the Oceania Football Confederation’s president and representative on the 24-person FIFA executive committee that awarded the 2018 and 2022 hosting rights.
Temarii, before the vote was conducted, had been suspended by FIFA for breaking confidentiality rules by discussing World Cup votes with undercover reporters from the Sunday Times.
Temarii initially accepted his suspension but then decided to appeal. He had been mandated by the OFC to vote for Australia, and his place at the voting would have been taken by his deputy David Chung from Papua New Guinea – had he not appealed his suspension.
Bin Hamman’s alleged funding of Temarii’s appeal ensured that there would be no OFC vote at the meeting, and no vote for Australia. For Qatar it removed a vote away from an opposition bid.
In 2015 Fifa banned Temarii for eight years for breaching five sections of its ethics code when he accepted €305,640 (£220,632) from Bin Hamman in January 2011.
The French authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Temarii.
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