January 30 – UEFA President and FIFA Executive Committee member Michel Platini has moved quickly to defend his decision to vote for Qatar as 2022 World Cup host and refute any implication of outside influence on his vote.
Reacting to a 15-page report in France Football magazine, headlined Qatargate, Platini said in a statement to AFP that “to believe that my choice went to Qatar 2022 in exchange for deals between the French state and Qatar is just pure speculation”.
The magazine suggests Sarkozy pressured Platini for political reasons to switch allegiance from the United States bid to Qatar in the FIFA vote nine days later.
Platini says Sarkozy “would never have allowed himself to ask me to vote for Qatar 2022 because he knows that I am my own man.”
“I don’t rule out taking anyone to court who questions my integrity in this vote,” he added.
The France Football article is a compilation of the various rumours that circulated following the vote for FIFA World Cup 2022.
These rumours have been reported to FIFA and last week FIFA have confirmed that they will be investigating allegations regarding the World Cup 2018 and 2022 bidding processes, won by Russia and Qatar.
The chairmen of FIFA’s Adjudicatory and Investigative Chambers, Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and Michael J Garcia , said in a joint statement: “As has been publicly announced, certain allegations regarding events surrounding the bidding for the World Cup 2018 and 2022 were referred to the ethics committee by FIFA following media reports.
“We intend to conduct a thorough review of those allegations, including the evidentiary basis for and credibility of any allegations of individual misconduct.”
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