Award of the World Cup to Qatar: first indictment in France

In the investigation opened in Paris on the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, the former vice-president of Fifa, the Tahitian Reynald Temarii is indicted for "passive private corruption". A first indictment that could lead others in the sprawling Qatargate file.

Reynald Temarii, former president of the Tahitian Football Federation and the Oceania Confederation, on 27 April 2010. © David Rowland/NZPA via ASSOCIATED PRESS

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After seven years of investigation and the opening of a judicial investigation "for corruption, money laundering, concealment and fraud" by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) in 2019, Reynald Temarii is the first actor in this case indicted by the French justice. The former president of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) was since November 2021 placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness in this case.

In this judicial investigation opened in 2019 in Paris on the designation of the emirate as host country, the investigating judges seek to know if the vote in favor of Qatar, for the World Cup-2022 football, Michel Platini, at the time boss of UEFA, was obtained in exchange for compensation. At the heart of the suspicions is a lunch held in 2010 between Nicolas Sarkozy, then President of the Republic, Michel Platini and two senior Qatari leaders.

Important member of FIFA

Tahiti is the most populous of the islands of French Polynesia, but it has its own football federation, a member of the Oceanian Confederation (OFC), of which Temarii has been president since 2004. In this capacity, he was one of FIFA's vice-presidents until his suspension for breach of the code of ethics on 17 November 2010 after articles in the Sunday Times. That's about two weeks before the executive committee vote awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar on December 2.

The OFC therefore had to appoint a replacement who would have given his vote to Australia in the first round of voting and, if unsuccessful, to the United States, Qatar's main rivals. The French justice is therefore trying to find out why he appealed his suspension on the night of November 30 to December 1, depriving his confederation of a representative during the vote.

In October 2022, Reynald Temarii gave his version of the facts at a press conference and said he was the victim of fraud, explaining that he had received, before deciding to appeal, a confidential note from consultant Jean-Charles Brisard informing him that the Swiss federal prosecutor's office was considering prosecuting him for corruption, which was false. He had stated that, according to this note, a "waiver of the appeal on his part" amounted to "a finding of guilt and would jeopardize his defence". According to him, these were false elements intended to push him to appeal.

And who covertly covered the costs of Reynald Temarii's defense in the amount of 305,000 euros after inviting him all expenses paid in Malaysia between his sanction and the vote in favor of Qatar? None other than Mohamed Bin Hammam, the Qatari billionaire who chaired the Asian Confederation, suspected of being the linchpin of this gigantic corruption file. The intermediary was the former husband of Temarii's lawyer.

" READ ALSO – Award of the World Cup to Qatar: Nicolas Sarkozy targeted by a complaint of Anticor

(

With AFP)

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• France
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• Justice
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• Corruption