Az amúgy sem patyolat tiszta Blatter-korszak legnagyobb szégyene a katari vébérendezés, meghalt bevándorlóktól téli rendezésen át az óriási korrupciós vádakig. Most újabb botrány ütötte fel a fejét, miután a BBC stábját meghívták az országba, hogy saját szemükkel nézzék meg, mennyire rossz a bevándorló munkások helyzete. Majd váratlan csavarral letartóztatták őket.
A brit lap stábját a katari miniszterelnöki hivatal hívta meg, ők viszont elindultak egy olyan település felé, ahol úgy tudták, hogy a kvázi rabszolgaként dolgozó nepáli bevándorlók élnek. Ekkor a BBC autóját körbevették, ki kellett szállniuk, elvették a felszereléseiket majd bevitték őket a rendőrségre.
Az újságírók beszámolója szerint kifejezetten ellenséges volt velük szemben a fellépés, de konkrétan nem vádolták meg őket semmivel, csak arra voltak újra és újra kíváncsiak, hogy kivel találkoztak az országban. Olyan képek is előkerültek, melyekről kiderült, hogy a rendőrség az elmúlt napokban is követte és megfigyelte az angol újságírókat. Az egyik rendőr, kiváló angolt beszélve, négy nap börtönnel fenyegette meg a BBC újságíróit, hogy abból majd tanulnának.
A kihallgatás után 13 órán át fogva tartották őket, majd újabb kihallgatás következett, amikor az egyik rendőr fel is csattant:
Ez nem Disneyland, feldughatjátok a kamerátokat. Végül két nap után engedték el a négy újságírót, felszereléseiket nem kapták vissza.
Márciusban egy német újságírócsapatot tartóztattak le, hasonló okok miatt. Akkor négy héttel később visszaküldték a felszereléseiket, de minden anyagot letöröltek róla
Daughter of World Cup official had £2m put into account The 10-year-old daughter of Ricardo Teixeira, a former Fifa executive committee member, received payment in 2011
The 10-year-old daughter of a Fifa executive who helped to select World Cup host nations had more than £2 million put into a savings account set up in her name, the Telegraph can disclose.
Antonia Wigand Teixeira, the daughter of the Brazilian representative on the Fifa executive committee, received the money in 2011. Her father, Ricardo, who stepped down from the committee in 2012, has recently moved to Miami after Brazilian police began an investigation into his activities. The disclosure will raise questions about the finances of some Fifa officials who participated in the decision to award Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
Michael Garcia, the joint chief investigator of Fifa’s ethics committee, is looking at the bidding process and is understood to be examining business deals connected to several current and former executive committee members.
The decision to award Qatar the World Cup has been controversial. The successful bid team has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing during the bidding process but Fifa has faced repeated calls to rerun the contest as concerns grow over the decision to hold the football competition in a desert state where temperatures hover around 104F (40C).
The money transfer to Mr Teixeira’s daughter, whose account is registered in Rio, is thought to have been made by Sandro Rosell. Mr Teixeira has had a long-standing relationship involving a number of reported business deals with Mr Rosell, who was previously head of Nike Brazil and until early this year was President of Barcelona Football Club.
The payment from Mr Rosell to Antonia was made on June 22 2011, when she was 10 years old. Sources close to the football club said they did not know about the payment. In December 2010, the Catalan club agreed a sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation, which developed into a three-year corporate sponsorship with Qatar Airways.
A statement issued by lawyers acting for the Qatar bid said the payment from Mr Rosell to Mr Teixeira had nothing to do with the country’s bid for the 2022 World Cup and they had not given him any payments to secure Mr Teixeira’s vote. It added that there was “no question” that any payment made to Mr Teixeira, or anyone on his behalf, was connected to the sponsorship of Barcelona football club by the Qatar Foundation or Qatar Airways.
Mr Garcia is investigating Mr Teixeira’s decision to support Qatar’s bid, it emerged this week.
Estadao, a Brazilian newspaper, reported that sources close to Sepp Blatter, the President of Fifa, had said investigators were examining the former executive committee’s support of the Gulf state and scrutinising business deals that had been made before the vote in Switzerland. Mr Garcia is expected to deliver his report later this year.
Mr Teixeira was a member of the Fifa executive committee for 22 years, during which time he faced several corruption scandals. In 2013, a report by Hans– Joachim Eckert, the chairman of the Fifa Adjudicatory Chamber, named Mr Teixeira and two other committee members as having taken bribes from ISL, a company that had been granted exclusive rights to market the World Cup.
The magazine France Football also reported that in the weeks before the 2010 vote, Brazil and Argentina played a friendly match in Qatar and, according to people involved in the organisation of the match, Qatar paid double the usual price charged by the Brazil national side.
Mr Rosell is a successful Catalan businessman. He founded Ailanto Marketing, which received $5.6 million (£3.3 million) from the Brazilian Federation to organise a friendly with Portugal in 2008. Questions have been raised about whether Mr Teixeira could have profited from the deal as documents in Brazil have shown a link between Ailanto and Mr Teixeira’s farm on the outskirts of Rio.
Mr Rosell resigned as president of Barcelona in January after a judge agreed to hear a case against him by one of the club’s members over the alleged misappropriation of funds in a deal that brought a Brazilian footballer to the club.
Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world and invests in many countries. Since the decision in 2010 to award it the 2022 World Cup, it has invested in several countries that have executive committee members. Last month, the Telegraph disclosed that Jack Warner, a former vice-president of Fifa, and his family appeared to have been paid almost $2 million from a Qatari firm linked to the 2022 World Cup bid. Mr Warner appears to have been personally paid $1.2 million by a company controlled by a former Qatari football official shortly after the decision to award the country the tournament.
A spokesman for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee said last month it had strictly adhered to Fifa’s bidding regulations and was unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals.
Mr Teixeira and Mr Rosell did not respond to questions. A source close to Barcelona Football Club said they did not know about the payment to Antonia, but that if payments were made by Mr Rosell to Mr Teixeira’s family, there was no connection to Qatar’s sponsorship deal.
Qatar World Cup 2022 investigation: former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and family paid millions
Documents appear to show a senior Fifa official and his family were paid millions by a company controlled by a former Qatari football official shortly after the country won its bid for the 2022 World Cup
A senior Fifa official and his family were paid almost $2 million (£1.2m) from a Qatari firm linked to the country’s successful bid for the 2022 World Cup, The Telegraph can disclose.
Jack Warner, the former vice-president of Fifa, appears to have been personally paid $1.2 million (£720,000) from a company controlled by a former Qatari football official shortly after the decision to award the country the tournament.
Payments totalling almost $750,000 (£450,000) were made to Mr Warner’s sons, documents show. A further $400,000 (£240,000) was paid to one of his employees.
It is understood that the FBI is now investigating Trinidad-based Mr Warner and his alleged links to the Qatari bid, and that the former Fifa official’s eldest son, who lives in Miami, has been helping the inquiry as a co-operating witness.
The awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was one of the most controversial decisions in sporting history. The intense summer heat in the desert nation has raised the prospect of the tournament being moved to the winter for the first time.
Although Qatar has repeatedly denied wrongdoing during the bidding process, it has long been suspected that the decision was flawed, and several members of the Fifa committee have faced corruption allegations.
It can be disclosed that a company owned by Mohamed Bin Hammam, the Fifa executive member for Qatar, appeared to pay $1.2 million (£720,000) to Mr Warner in 2011.
A note from one of Mr Warner’s companies, Jamad, to Mr Bin Hammam’s firm, Kemco, requested $1.2 million in payment for work carried out between 2005 and 2010.
The document is dated December 15, 2010, two weeks after Qatar won the right to host the tournament, and states that the money is “payable to Jack Warner”.
Mr Warner’s two sons and an employee were paid a further $1 million (£600,000) by the same Qatari company.
One document states that payments are to “offset legal and other expenses”, but a separate letter claims that more than $1 million cover “professional services provided over the period 2005-2010”.
At least one bank in the Cayman Islands initially refused to process the payment amid fears over the legality of the money transfer. The money was eventually processed via a bank in New York – a transaction that is understood to have come to the attention of the FBI. A well-placed source said: “These payments need to be properly investigated. The World Cup is the most important event in football and we need to be confident that decisions have been made for the right reasons. There are lots of questions that still need to be answered.”
Mr Warner was one of the most experienced members of the executive committee until he stood down in 2011 and served as vice-president of the organisation for 14 years. He was one of the 22 people who decided to award Russia the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 tournament. It is understood that the FBI is investigating payments to Mr Warner and that one of his family members has been acting as a “co-operating witness”.
The investigators are thought to be focusing on Mr Warner’s American and Grand Cayman accounts.
Michael Garcia, the joint chief investigator of Fifa’s ethics committee, is also investigating irregularities surrounding the bidding process. He is expected to deliver his report to the committee later this year.
The disclosures will add to concerns that some Fifa executive committee members were not impartial when they cast their votes in December 2010. England suffered a humiliating defeat when it secured only two votes to host the 2018 World Cup and was eliminated after the first round.
Even before the decision was made, there were persistent allegations of corruption. Six weeks before the vote in Zurich, a World Cup official was caught in an undercover investigation agreeing to sell his vote to one of England’s rivals. A second member of the same committee was recorded asking for £1.5 million for a sports academy. Both officials were suspended, meaning that 22 people voted instead of the usual 24.
A whistleblower also claimed that one of the bidders had bought the votes of three African executive committee members. The former Fifa employee later withdrew the allegations.
Following England’s defeat, a parliamentary committee held an inquiry into the failed bid. Lord Triesman, the bid’s former chairman, gave evidence stating that four Fifa executive committee members had asked for business deals and favours when negotiating their support. One of those he named was Mr Warner.
The Labour peer said that the then Fifa vice-president had asked for money to build an education centre in Trinidad, with the cash to be channelled through him, and £500,000 to buy World Cup television rights for Haiti.
In June 2011, Mr Warner resigned from all football posts after he was accused of facilitating bribes to members of the Caribbean football union on behalf of Mohamed Bin Hammam, who was standing against Sepp Blatter to be Fifa president. A report by the Fifa ethics committee found that there was “compelling” evidence that Mr Warner was “an accessory to corruption”.
Mr Warner was caught on tape apparently urging fellow Fifa officials to accept cash gifts from Mr Bin Hammam, the disgraced former presidential candidate.
The documents seen by The Telegraph raise further questions about Mr Warner’s activities. One email, which appears to have been sent by one of Mr Warner’s employees, shows that the staff member personally received $412,000 from the Qatari company and that Mr Warner’s son, Daryll, was paid $432,000. Daryan, his other son, was paid $316,000 via a company called We Buy Houses.
Regarding the payments to Daryan, the email states that he was “contracted … based on his understanding, contacts and history with the regional players who make up an integral part of the defence team … pursuant to Fifa bribery allegations. As stated in our letter of June 11, 2011, the value of US $316,000, and this is an initial deposit to offset legal and other expenses related to the matter.”
In July, a different email shows that “monies in the amount of $1.2 million” were wire transferred to J&D International, another of Mr Warner’s companies, by the same Qatari firm. It states that this is to “offset legal and other related expenses associated with regard to an ongoing matter”.
Mr Warner and his family declined to comment. A spokesman for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee said: “The 2022 bid committee strictly adhered to Fifa’s bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics.
“The supreme committee for delivery and legacy and the individuals involved in the 2022 bid committee are unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals.”
Sepp Blatter: Still time for 2022 Qatar World Cup winter switch
The boss of world football's governing body is determined to switch the 2022 World Cup to the winter because of the intense Qatar summer heat. Fifa president Sepp Blatter plans discussions over the change, which would cause major disruption to various domestic leagues, with his executive committee in October. He said: "We still have enough time.
"The executive committee will certainly follow my proposal. Then we will have dealt with the topic for good." Temperatures can hit 50C in Qatar, with games scheduled to be played in air-conditioned stadiums. But Blatter said: "The World Cup must be a festival of the people. But for it to be such a festival, you can't play football in the summer. "You can cool down the stadiums but you can't cool down the whole country and you can't simply cool down the ambience of a World Cup. The players must be able to play in the best conditions to play a good World Cup." Speaking via video link, the head of Qatar's organising committee, Hassan Al-Thawadi, told the conference in Austria: "If it's a wish of the football community to have the World Cup in winter, then we are open to that." Blatter said his change of heart had followed medical information about the effects of the heat on players. "There has been a fresh medical investigation into what it would be like to play football there in the summer and we have to take into account the health, not of the spectators, but of the players," he told Sky Germany. Moving the World Cup to the winter would significantly impact on the the European leagues. Many leagues outside Britain have a winter break but they would need a hiatus of at least six weeks to accommodate national teams preparing for, and playing at, the World Cup finals. "We have to have the courage - that is Fifa's executive committee - to play this World Cup in the winter and to start to work out now what impact this will have on the international calendar," Blatter added. "It would only be for one year, afterwards you'd be back to the normal routine. But I will advocate that." Qatar defeated bids from South Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States to win a ballot of Fifa's 22 executive members for the right to host the 2022 World Cup. Meanwhile, Blatter said Brazil might have been the wrong choice to host the 2014 World Cup if the tournament is affected by the wave of protests seen at the Confederations Cup last month. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets expressing their anger over the costs to stage the World Cup and demanding better public services. "If this happens again we have to question whether we made the wrong decision awarding the hosting rights," Blatter said. "We didn't do a political debriefing, but we did emphasise the fact of this social unrest being there for the entire duration of the Confederations Cup. "The government is now aware that next year the World Cup shouldn't be disturbed." He added: "It's not we who have to learn lessons from the protests in Brazil; politics in Brazil have to do that."
"Oroszoknál kicsit tartok attól, hogy ha túl messzire is visznek meccseket, akkor ez már nem annyira valósul meg"
Ettől nem nagyon kell tartanod 2-4 óra időeltolódás lesz köztünk és az orosz helyszínek között. A legtávolabbi rendező város Jekatyerinburg lesz, az UTC +5, míg Magyarország (a legtöbb európia országgal együtt) az UTC +1 időzónában fekszik.
Szerintem megcsinálják a légkondícionált stadionokat, elég sok őrült csodát felhúztak már arrafelé, pl mesterséges szigeteket, amik a földrészeket mintázzák vagy pálmafa-alakú szigeten luxushotel, ezek nem viccelnek... Csak pénz kérdése, az meg ott korlátlanul áll rendelkezésre. Úgyhogy szerintem kiváló rendezést fognak csinálni, és ami a legfőbb szempont, hogy nem lesz jelentős időeltolódás! Én nem nézek sok focit, de a vébéket nagyon imádom, úgyhogy szeretném, ha nem éjszaka meg hajnalban lennének a meccsek vagy délelőtt munkaidőben.
Oroszoknál kicsit tartok attól, hogy ha túl messzire is visznek meccseket, akkor ez már nem annyira valósul meg, de még mindig jobb, mintha valami távoli országban lenne.
Ja, amúgy Spanyol-portugál nyáron nem hiszem, hogy sokkal hidegebb lenne, mint Katar.
De végülis nekem mindegy, mert pénzem úgysincs elmenni, a tévében viszont jól mutatnak az egzotikus helyszínek :)
Jó nagy hülyék a Katariak. Lehet,hogy tökéletes rendezést fognak csinálni, de az tuti,hogy ezen gazdaságilagok óriásit fognak bukni.
Mi a francot fognak kezdeni a stadionokkal egy milliónál kevesebb lakosságú országban ?
A légkondicionált stadion is baromi jól hangzik,de tartok tőle,hogy még nagyon sokat kell fejlődnie a tudománynak 2022-ig, hogy kellemes levegő legyen azokban a stadionokban.
Szó szerint vettek maguknak egy VB-t.
Ez lesz az első olyan VB, amire a sztárok óriási pluszgázsikért SE fognak elmenni.
Az ország egyik érdekessége, hogy a 15-64 közötti lakosságban csaknem három férfira jut egy nő. Lehet,hogy a magyar gazdaságnak jót fog majd tenni ez a rendezés ? :)
"Szeretnék eloszlatni minden félelmet és téves elképzelést, ami hazámmal, mint közel-keleti országgal kapcsolatban él. Nálunk nincs terrorizmus, hőség ugyan van, de a stadionok fedettek, s ennél fogva légkondicionáltak lesznek. A katari nép vendégszerető, a létesítmények pedig nem mennek veszendőbe a világbajnokság után, mert az tagadhatatlan, hogy nem tudnánk garantálni egy ilyen csekély lélekszámú országban az állandó kihasználtságot. Nem jutnak arra a sorsra, amelyre a dél-afrikai stadionok, amelyek üresen tátongnak: importálni fogjuk a mobil elemeket, s ha véget ér a világbajnokság, szétbontjuk a lelátókat, és eladjuk olyan országoknak, amelyek meg tudják tölteni az újra felállítandó stadionokat nézőkkel" - mondta a sejk.
Profi koncepció (az animáció szintjén mndenképp). Az azért jelzés értékű, hogy a 3. stadionnál a maygar zászlót sikerült felülre kirakni a szalagokból :)
Hasszan al-Tavadi, a pályázati bizottság igazgatója kiemelte: az arénák a tervek szerint száz százalékban környezetbarátak lennének, napenergiát használnának, a játékosoknak pedig nem kellene a meleg miatt aggódniuk, mert egy speciális eljárással nem engednék a hőmérsékletet a pályán 27 fok fölé
na megyek a haverokkal le a dühöngöbe kicsit rugdalodzni... igaz nincs légkondi, meg gyep, de azért mi imádjuk... bár most kicsit latyakos... :(
Majd a VB után mindegyiket telepakolják hóval és lesz 12 "snowboard" stadionjuk, ami tele lesz az Öböl menti országok gazdag turistáival. A legnagyobb megmaradhat focinak. :-)
