Qatar denies US claim of bribing Fifa officials to host 2022 World Cup

Qatar has denied allegations of bribing Fifa officals to win the bid for host the 2020 football World Cup. The remarks came after US Justice Department released on Monday documents claiming that Fifa officials received bribes to vote in favour of awarding the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

The Kremlin has also refuted the allegations

Qatar said it "strongly denies the allegations contained within the court papers".
 
What is 2015 corruption scandal in Fifa?
 
The allegations are linked to a wide-ranging 2015 corruption scandal that left world football's governing body Fifa in turmoil and led to the downfall of then-president Sepp Blatter.
 
In the ensuing years, the US government has accused a total of 45 people and various sports companies of more than 90 crimes and of paying or accepting more than $200 million in bribes.
 
"They are part of a long-standing case, the subject of which is not the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process," Qatar's Supreme Committe for Delivery said in a statement.
 
"Despite years of false claims, evidence has never been produced to demonstrate that Qatar won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup 2022 unethically or by means that contravened FIFA's strict bidding rules”, Qatar's Supreme Committe for Delivery said.

 
What US Justice Department document reveal?
 
Former Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira was among several officials to accept bribes in Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup, according to an indictment made public in a US court.
 
The late former South American football bosses Nicolas Leoz and Julio Grondona also allegedly received payments to vote for Qatar's candidacy at a 2010 Fifa executive meeting.
 
However, documents lodged with the US District Court of Brooklyn did not say where the money came from.
 
Last November, Fifa had handed Teixeira a lifetime-ban for taking millions of dollars of bribes linked to commercial contracts for South American competitions from 2006 to 2012. He was also fined one million Swiss francs (around $1 million).
 
In a recent interview with CNN Brasil, Teixeira proclaimed his innocence and accused the US of "persecution" for having voted for Qatar instead of the United States.
 
Former South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) chief Leoz died of heart failure last year. Grondona, who led the Argentinian Football Association for 35 years, died of complications related to an aortic aneurysm in 2014.
 
In the indictment, the US justice department also accused Jack Warner, the former president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation (CONCACAF), of receiving $5 million in bribes to vote for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.
 
In addition, the Guatemala federation president, Rafael Salguero, voted for Russia in exchange for a $1 million bribe, according to the indictment.