Paris (AFP)
The investigation into the conditions of attribution of the World Cup 2022 football in Qatar, conducted for three years under the aegis of the National Public Prosecutor (PNF), was recently entrusted to an investigating judge, said Monday the parquet floor to AFP.
Judicial information, entrusted to a Paris judge, was opened including "active and passive bribery," said the prosecutor, confirming information from Mediapart.
This decision comes about six months after the hearing of Michel Platini, under the regime of custody. The former French football star, who was vice-president of FIFA and UEFA president at the time of the award of the Mondial-2022, was questioned about the reasons for his vote in favor of Qatar on December 2, 2010.
The World-2022 was then attributed to the surprise of the wealthy gas emirate, winner in the last round against the United States, in a ballot organized by Fifa.
The designation of Qatar, where scorching temperatures in the summer make it difficult or impossible to practice football, was controversial. In October 2015, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter questioned the role of France.
According to its version, "a diplomatic arrangement" existed for the World Cup to be held in Russia in 2018 and in 2022 in the United States. But the plan failed because of "the interference of the government of Mr. Sarkozy" which would have resulted, according to the Swiss, a flip-flop of Michel Platini, president of UEFA.
These suspicions convinced the PNF to open a preliminary investigation in 2016 for "private corruption", "criminal conspiracy", "influence peddling and trading in influence".
French justice is particularly interested in a meeting at the Elysee Palace on November 23, 2010, attended by President Nicolas Sarkozy, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani - then Crown Prince of Qatar became emir in 2013-- and Michel Platini.
His supposed goal: to make sure that Platini would vote for the emirate. A "tissue of lies" had outraged the former number 10 of the Blues.
In addition to Mr. Platini, two other people were interviewed by the investigators in the spring of 2019: former Sarkozy sports consultant Sophie Dion, in police custody, and former secretary general of the Elysée Claude Guéant, questioned in free audition.
During his interrogation, Mr. Guéant assured that there was "to his knowledge elements that can be described as likely to corruption," according to his lawyer, Philippe Bouchez el Ghozi.
© 2019 AFP