The ITUC has sacked Luca Visentini from his role as general secretary ©Getty Images

Luca Visentini has been sacked as general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) after accepting payments from Pier Antonio Panzeri who is at the centre of the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament.

The Government of Qatar, the nation which hosted the most recent FIFA World Cup last year from November 20 to December 18, has been accused of bribing European Parliament officials, lobbyists and their families.

Visentini was arrested in December as part of the investigation which also involves the Moroccan and Mauritanian Governments.

The 54-year-old Italian was detained for two days and then released, but remained a suspect, was suspended by the ITUC Board in December.

It has now decided that he "no longer had the confidence of the General Council" and would be removed from his post.

"The events of the past few months have caused significant damage to the ITUC's reputation," said ITUC President Akiko Gono, whose organisation federates 338 unions in 168 countries and territories.

Luca Visentini has admitted to accepting a €50,000 payment from Pier Antonio Panzeri's NGO Fight Impunity but denies any wrongdoing ©Getty Images
Luca Visentini has admitted to accepting a €50,000 payment from Pier Antonio Panzeri's NGO Fight Impunity but denies any wrongdoing ©Getty Images

"We are determined to protect the ITUC from any form of improper influence, or indeed the appearance of such influence."

The ITUC also said a report from its special commission and external auditors had found "no evidence of donations from either Qatar or Morocco influencing the ITUC's policies or programmes".

Visentini has admitted to receiving €50,000 (£44,000/$53,000) from former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Panzeri's non-profit organisation Fight Impunity for his ITUC leadership campaign.

Panzeri allegedly ran the bribery ring and made a deal with prosecutors last month in return for a lighter sentence.

Visentini previously drew attention for his positive statements about Qatari labour reforms prior to the 2022 World Cup in the Middle Eastern country.

However, he has insisted he has done no wrongdoing. 

Some MEPs had alleged Qatar attempted to bribe them in order to improve the country's reputation in the build up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup ©Getty Images
Some MEPs had alleged Qatar attempted to bribe them in order to improve the country's reputation in the build up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup ©Getty Images

"I reiterate that I’m innocent of the accusations of corruption and money laundering that were levelled at me," he said, as reported by AFP.

"The donation I received was given to the ITUC to help trade unions in need, I believed that this money came from a reliable source, and it was used by the ITUC in an impartial manner and according to existing internal rules."

Italian MEP Dino Giarrusso claims that he and others had been approached by Qatari officials multiple times, saying "they were hoping to improve the country's reputation especially in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup.

The Qatari Government denied any involvement in the scandal and instead accused the United Arab Emirates of orchestrating it.

According to the Qatari state-funded Middle East Monitor "the European Union Parliament has opened an official investigation into corruption cases and suspicions involving senior officials from the United Arab Emirates to launch a smear campaign against Qatar coinciding with hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup."