The allocation of the World Cup to the emirate, 12 years ago, devotes his lightning ascent the international scene. But it also marks the beginning of an interminable soap-mixing mixing lobbying, rumors of bribes, espionage, intoxication and sabotage.
by Benjamin Barthe and Rémi Dupré
It was twelve years ago, but Sepp Blatter remembers it as if it was yesterday. On December 2, 2010, at the headquarters of the International Football Federation (FIFA), in Zurich (Switzerland), in front of a room filled with football and politics VIP, the boss of the stretch institution the envelope containing the name of the name of the name of Winner of the 2022 World Cup allocation ballot. “I knew it was Qatar, and I made my head a bit, recalls the former Swiss leader, now 86 years old. In My design of FIFA and the World Cup, the tournament should never have been there. But it was done. “
In the Assembly, the imposing Hamad Ben Khalifa Al Thani, sovereign of the Gulf monarchy, and his wife, the haughty Cheikha Moza al-Misned, all dressed, jump from their headquarters. The emir embraces his children in tears. “Thank you for believing in the change, thank you for giving Qatar a chance. I promise you, you will be proud of us,” proclaims the Mohammed Ben Hamad Al Thani, head of the Emirate’s candidacy , alongside Blatter, the tense face.
This ceremony in Mondovision consecrates the lightning of Qatar on the international scene. During the vote of the FIFA executive committee, the micro-state won with fourteen votes against eight to its main competitor, the United States. “A coup de radiance,” assure the supporters of the emirate. “A hold-up”, retort its detractors, aware of rumors of bribes that swell behind the scenes.
This is the opening sequence of a high spectacle series. The three strokes of an endless grasp, mixing lobbying, espionage, intoxication and sabotage. In the leading roles of this overproduction, the budget of which amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars, there is an armada of diplomats and consultants: those of Qatar, determined at all costs to succeed “its” cuts, and those of its Gulf opponents, ready to do anything to prevent it.
campaign in the form of a compressor roller
But in the credits of this shadow war, as incredible as they are deleterious, we also find the barons of FIFA, the experts of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and a few hunters of the international press scoops. On the eve of the opening of the competition, which is held from November 20 to December 18, here is the black novel of the World Cup, the story of a tournament that could never have taken place.
For the Qataris, the troubles started even before December 2, 2010. The previous year, the Frenchman Jérôme Valcke, then secretary general of FIFA, had come to suggest to withdraw their candidacy in exchange for other competitions, of lower row. The request emanated from Sepp Blatter, hardly enchanted to the idea that its favorite tournament, showcase and hen with golden eggs in FIFA, is held in a country “as large as the canton of Zug” (Switzerland), and that ‘It takes place, moreover, during the winter. An obvious risk, given the furnace that the emirate becomes during the summer.
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