Qatar paid three African nations to secure votes for World Cup hosting rights: Netflix documentary
Three African countries — Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria — accepted bribes to vote for Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup, according to a revelation in Netflix’s new documentary, “Fifa Uncovered”.
The UK newspaper, The Sun, said a former international media officer for the World Cup bid, Phaedra Almajid, blew the whistle on the three African countries.
She alleged that Hassan al-Thawadi, who is currently the secretary-general of the Supreme Committee responsible for World Cup, which kicks off this month in Qatar, offered US$1.5 million to Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Amos Adamu (Nigeria), and Issa Hayatou (Cameroon) at a meeting of the African football federations in January 2010, less than a year before the decision on hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup. Qatar pipped Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the US.
She also unveiled in the documentary that, "We were talking about how Africa had been given its chance to host the World Cup and how the Arab world should be given their chance, and then Hassan offered Hayatou $1 million for Hayatou’s football federation and in return, we wanted his vote.”
"I remember there just being laughter and then him saying that is not enough, and so the price was upped to $1.5 million — just like that. It was just so simple: ‘We will give you this money for your football federation, you give us your vote, and thank you so much’.
"One by one we did the same thing with Anouma and Adamu. $1.5 million was offered to each member that evening in exchange for their vote. It was verbal, I never saw money."
She highlighted that the booty was directed to the federations instead of Hayatou himself.
"It was made very clear the money was going to football, it was never said it is going into your pocket, I do need to emphasise that. Where it ended up, I have no idea.”
Ever since Almajid disclosed this issue, she claims being harrassed by anonymous calls, emails, and attacks on social media.
Al-Thawadi has rejected all accusations and insinuations."My reaction, especially on the Phaedra situation, it’s frustration. They are inherently false and there are facts on the ground that prove they are false."
The documentary, “Fifa Uncovered”, is now available on Netflix in four parts in the first season for which it got 7.7 from IMDb.
