A questionable vote
On December 2, 2010, Qatar won the 2022 Soccer World Cup, 14 votes to 8 for the United States. From the outset, this “victory” is perplexing. Because of the nine original candidate countries, Qatar is the only one with a “high risk” file, due in particular to climate issues and the lack of adequate infrastructure (stadiums and hotels). It is known that the small Gulf country has carried out a major lobbying campaign to influence the vote of the 22 members of the executive committee of FIFA (International Federation of Association Football). An American justice report dated 2020 even speaks of “bribes”. But France is also suspected of having played a decisive role in this controversial attribution, starting with the then President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, personally involved in what is now known as “Qatargate”. .
PHOTO WALTER BIERI, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015, announcing on December 2, 2010 that Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup
A secret dinner
In 2013, the magazine France Soccer reveals that a secret dinner was organized on November 23, 2010 at the Élysée Palace, barely ten days before the vote for the awarding of the World Cup… Among the guests, Nicolas Sarkozy, the former footballer Michel Platini, while UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) boss and member of the FIFA executive committee, Crown Prince Tamim al-Thani (now Emir of Qatar) and his prime minister at the time, Hamad bin Jassem al- Thani. It is suspected that this meal was organized by Sarkozy to tilt Platini’s vote in favor of Qatar, and to use his influence to drag other members of the FIFA executive committee with him. The hypothesis is that this support would have been negotiated under the table in exchange for certain counterparties from Qatar, including the takeover of the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) team for 70 million euros (95 million CAN) , the opening of the Qatari sports TV channel beIN in France, as well as the purchase of 50 Airbus and 24 Rafale (French fighter planes) by the emirate, this last transaction amounting to some 6 billion euros (9 billion CAN).
An ongoing investigation
An investigation was opened in 2017 by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office in France for “active and passive corruption and concealment and laundering of these crimes”, which could be worth up to 10 years in prison and 1 million euros (1.5 million CAN) in fines to its protagonists. The question is whether this informal meal really tipped the scales in the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar, and whether this result favored subsequent transactions involving the French state, French companies and the small country. of the Gulf. A big deal, summarizes the lawyer Jean-Baptiste Soufron, who represents the Anticor Association, civil party in the file. “We are still talking about the most famous football player in France, who almost became president of FIFA. From the former President of the Republic. From the Emir of Qatar. […] With very serious accusations about the biggest collective event in the world. It’s a colossal thing,” he said.
PHOTO HASSAN AMMAR, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Current FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha on 1er last April for the 2022 Soccer World Cup draw
Lobbying or corruption?
That is the whole question. For Jean-Baptiste Soufron, it is clear that we are talking here about a corrupt pact, since a representative of the French State would have been personally involved in a hidden negotiation, to influence a democratic exercise in exchange for commercial and financial compensation. . “As soon as a politician starts to make secret agreements, these agreements immediately incur the suspicion of being illicit. It’s as simple as that, ”slices the lawyer.
Director of the Sport Business Observatory in Paris, Vincent Chaudel relativizes, rather evoking a form of state lobbying. “What we have to fight is personal enrichment. As long as there is no personal enrichment, it is negotiation. In diplomacy, you can’t do everything under the cameras of the whole world, it’s not possible. When [le premier ministre du Royaume-Uni] Tony Blair brought voters to his hotel room for the London Olympics [de 2012], did he engage in corruption or lobbying? “, he asks.
Current case
The case is far from closed. Even if investigative documents seem to say the opposite, Michel Platini swears that his choice was made a long time ago and that he chose Qatar “in the name of the development of football in a region which had never had a World Cup ». It remains to be demonstrated whether “contract opportunities”, involving private and public interests, have indeed resulted from this “secret” meal at the Élysée, which is still in the crosshairs of French justice.
It would not be the first time, of course, that corruption and the World Cup have gone hand in hand. “France 1998, Germany 2006, South Africa 2010…”, summarizes Vincent Chaudel. It remains to be seen whether the changes to the allocation rules (voting is now given to the 211 international football associations rather than the 22 members of the FIFA executive committee) will lead to a change in the culture of “influence”. The bets are open…