There is not even a sliver of evidence behind the claims, argues Qatar World Cup chief

By Andrew Warshaw

July 12 – The head of Qatar’s victorious bid to stage the 2022 World Cup insists the campaign was totally clean and suggests anti-Arab sentiment in part fuelled the string of allegations against the oil-rich Gulf state.

Hassan Al-Thawadi (pictured), the bid’s fluent English-speaking chief executive, says there is “not a shred of evidence” to support allegations that the country bought their way to last December’s landslide victory.

Twenty-four hours after the so-called Qatar whistleblower, a former employee of the bid team, retracted a spate of bribery and corruption claims, Al-Thawadi told The Guardian that prejudice played a significant role in the global sense of surprise at the margin of Qatar’s success.

Stressing that actual racism was not involved, he said: “I genuinely think that ignorance fed into prejudice and made it a more fertile ground for these rumours to take seed and grow.

“I do believe there is prejudice against the fact that we are a rich, Arab nation – yes, I think there is genuine prejudice there.”

While Qatar has acknowledged that its World Cup budget was far bigger than its 2022 rivals, Al-Thawadi insisted no FIFA rules were broken.

He said he had even considered establishing an independent investigation, and was going to ask Sebastian Coe, one-time head of FIFA’s Ethics Commission and now chairman of London 2012, to head it.

“In the end, why do I have to prove my innocence when there is not a shred of evidence?” he said.

“Why should we have an investigation if no other country has one, even Russia, which won the 2018 World Cup by the same people on the same day after the same process?”

Al-Thawadi denounced the British Parliamentary Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport for publishing, under parliamentary privilege, suggestions that Qatar had paid three African FIFA executive committee members $1.5 million (£940,000) to secure their votes – information provided by the so-called whistleblower, Phaedra Almajid, who dealt with international media whilst employed by the bid.

Almajid is now saying she made her allegations in anger at being removed from her job in March 2010.

“I do feel absolute surprise and disappointment,” Al-Thawadi told The Guardian.

“I understand and respect Parliamentary privilege, but my country’s reputation and my bid’s reputation is being sullied, tarnished, because of these allegations.”

He said he was also “disappointed” by the leaked email from Jérôme Valcke, FIFA’s general-secretary, to former CONCACAF boss Jack Warner inferring that Qatar had indeed “bought the World Cup”.

Al-Thawadi revealed that the bid had immediately sent Valcke a strong letter reserving the right to sue him, after which Valcke issued a clarification, saying he had been referring to Qatar’s large budget rather than alleged corruption.

Warner has since resigned from all footballing activities over the unrelated Caribbean bribery affair but Valcke remains in his position, anxious to keep a low profile for fear of any more errors of judgement that could land him in even deeper water.

Looking back at Qatar’s campaign, the western-educated and highly smart Al-Thawadi recalled his emotions after the December 2 vote in Zurich.

“Afterwards I broke down and cried,” he said.

“We had been all over the world, we took a bid nobody thought had much chance of winning on to a new level.

“I told my team on December 1, win or lose, you should all be very proud.”

Despite being the size of Wales, Qatar must now build nine stadiums as well as address the burning question – if you’ll excuse the pun – of the searing mid-summer Gulf heat as well as a spate of human rights issues.

Al-Thawadi insists he relishes the challenge.

“So much good can come out of this World Cup,” he said.

“I’m asking the world to look at us rationally.

“There is no evidence behind any of these claims, not a sliver.

“Even if we had wanted to do anything improper, which we did not, we could not risk it because if it ever came out, the reputation of our whole country would be in tatters, the absolute opposite to what we are trying to achieve.”

Hanging over the whole Qatar issue is the position of Mohamed Bin Hammam, ex-head of the Asian Football Confederation and Qatar’s most prominent footballing administrator.

Bin Hammam has been charged by FIFA’s Ethics Committee for allegedly paying Caribbean countries $40,000 (£24,000) each to vote for him in the recent FIFA presidential election.

The case reaches its conclusion at another Ethics Committee hearing on July 22 when Bin Hammam, currently suspended, is expected to receive an even longer sentence before going to appeal.

Al-Thawadi says there is no connection whatsoever between the case and Qatar’s World Cup bid, a pledge insideworldfootball understands to go even further.

Apparently, Bin Hammam was opposed to the bid to start with and had to be talked round even though he is a Qatari.

“We never went and gave him instructions,” Al-Thawadi insisted.

“There is no connection to what is happening to him now, and what happened with us.

“And also remember, he too is innocent until proven guilty.

“And in our nature, as Arabs, as Qataris, we are not just going to abandon people for the sake of others in the world saying we should.”

“I say stop the witch hunt and embrace the fact that this is a positive opportunity for the world.

“Look at the positive elements of a World Cup in the Middle East, especially in current circumstances.

“At the moment there is not a sliver of evidence we did anything wrong.

“If something real comes out, I’ll shut up.

“I’ll say: ‘OK and you can take the World Cup’.

“How about that?”

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