Qatar accused over World Cup bid

PTV – ZURICH, Football Federation Australia board member Jack Reilly has accused the Qatar delegation of giving money to buy hosting the 2022 World Cup.

“The Qatar delegation has been pushing money around for a long period of time,” he told ABC TV from Zurich on Thursday.

He made the allegation after FIFA selected Russia as the host nation for the 2018 and Qatar for the 2022 World Cup games.

Reilly noted that it is hard to compete with the Qatar bid and the result is a victory for the politicians in FIFA, adding that he is totally heartbroken.

Australia contributed 44 million dollars towards its bid and Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the entire nation was “disappointed.”

Qatar was named the host from a group of countries which included Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

“For 2018 and 2022 we go to new lands, because the World Cup has never been in Eastern Europe or the Middle East,” said FIFA president Joseph Blatter.

Qatar has resources and ambitions for the biggest sports event with under 1.7 million inhabitants and almost complete lack of footballing pedigree.

Qatar plans to build nine stadiums at a cost of 3 billion dollars and provide them with air conditioning that ensures players and fans a temperature in the stadium of 27 degrees, while outside it can reach over 40.