In yet another scathing news report by The Sunday Times in London, it alleged that football's world governing body "ignored its own terror alert" in choosing Qatar in a secret ballot in December 2010, after a security review published 17 days before the vote allocated the nation a risk rating of high.

The report, ordered by FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke in mid-November 2010, looked at the security situation in Qatar and the other nine countries involved in the bidding process for both the 2018 and the 2022 tournaments.

It was written by Andre Pruis, the South African police chief in charge of security at the 2010 World Cup and FIFA's security consultant for the current World Cup in Brazil.

It concluded that all the other nations carried a low to moderate risk, but that the risk attached to Qatar is high.

"In view of the risks related to the centralised approach, Qatar is allocated a risk rating of high," Pruis said in the report.

"I am of the view that it would be very difficult to deal with a major incident in such an environment without having to cancel the event."

The report was published by Andre Pruis the South African police chief in charge of security at the 2010 World Cup and FIFA's security consultant for the current World Cup in Brazil ©FIFA via Getty Images



Pruis did, however, acknowledge he only had time for a "very limited threat assessment", based largely on United States anti-terrorism information.

"The terrorism threat against Qatar relates to its location - its proximity to countries with inter alia [among other issues] an Al Qaeda presence," the briefing said.

The new report comes as Qatar strongly denies allegations of corruption, with a statement claiming the reports are "baseless and riddled with innuendo".

"This week the world should be watching Brazil, yet once again the focus will turn to Qatar as the media continues to attack FIFA's decision to award our country the World Cup in 2022," read the statement on behalf of Qatar's Supreme Committee for 2022.

"This weekend we expect further attacks on Qatar and our successful bid to host the World Cup in 2022.

"These allegations are baseless and riddled with innuendo designed to tarnish the reputation of Qatar's 2022 Bid Committee.

"The constant stream of allegations that have been released to media outlets on the cusp of our interviews with the chairman of FIFA's Ethics Committee Investigative Chamber do not implicate our bid.

"They are instead a series of tenuous links that attempt to assume guilt by association.

"The timing of the release of these allegations is no accident, falling in the same week as our interviews with Michael Garcia and a week before meetings of the FIFA Executive Committee and the 2014 FIFA Congress in Brazil.

"This has become a pattern prior to important dates in the FIFA calendar.

"It should be clear that these leaks are not an attempt to shine light on the 2018/2022 bidding process.

"They are, instead, a flagrant attempt to prejudice an ongoing independent investigation.

"While Qatar's bid committee has honoured Mr Garcia's request to let the process run its course, our right to a fair hearing has been compromised by certain parties trying to influence Mr Garcia's investigation."

The new report comes as Qatar strongly denies any allegations of corruption regarding the 2022 World Cup bid although admitting there had been a relationship with Mohamed bin Hammam ©Getty Images



The statement said Qatar strictly adhered to FIFA's bidding rules and regulations but admitted there had been a relationship with Mohamed Bin Hammam.

"Mr Bin Hammam is from Qatar, but he was not a member of Qatar's bid team," the statement added.

"In fact, we have never denied we had a relationship with Mr Bin Hammam.

"As a member of the football world and as a member of Qatari society, he often crossed paths with influential Qatari citizens, including members of our bid team.

"Further, because Mr Bin Hammam was a member of the Executive Committee, we had to present our plans to him and convince him that our bid was the right choice for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

"And as Mr Bin Hammam was also Confederation President and a voting member, it was important for us to maintain a working relationship with him.

"None of this was improper.

"We hoped, of course that Mr Bin Hammam would support our bid.

"But we hoped for the same from every Executive Committee member."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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