QATAR’s ruling family must be feeling hard done by. Having spent a fortune in securing, and then preparing for, the 2022 World Cup event, the tiny state is now under fire for having bought the right to host the tournament.

Right from Fifa’s announcement in 2010 that Qatar had won the most votes to be the host in 2022, allegations of bribery have been made privately and in the media. But there was little proof until The Sunday Times published a sensational story last week based on literally millions of emails that told a sordid tale of payouts to several delegates. The man at the centre of this growing scandal is a Qatari, Mohammed bin Hammam, who is alleged to have operated a slush fund of $5 million that was used to buy votes. He also flew around the world in a jet from the royal Qatari fleet.

There are mounting demands to hold the selection process again. Fifa, football’s notoriously opaque governing body, is resisting this public pressure. So far, its president, the wily Sepp Blatter, has stonewalled, saying Fifa will await the submission of a year-long enquiry being conducted by an American lawyer, Michael Garcia. Although Garcia is due to submit his report later this month, he will not include any of The Sunday Times disclosures. If he concludes with a ‘not guilty’ verdict, his report will lack credibility for not including the newly available material.

Looking back, it is hard to see why anybody is surprised by these allegations. After all, Qatar is hardly a soccer powerhouse, and its brutal summer climate does not make it a natural to host the world’s most popular single sporting event. So to get the votes necessary to win enough support must have taken a lot of persuasion. And as The Sunday Times revelations indicate, delegates, in particular the ones from Africa, were persuaded by large cash payments, lavish entertainment, plane tickets and hotel accommodation.

To get an idea of how blatant Hammam’s campaign was, here’s an email from the delegate from Swaziland quoted by Rod Liddle in his column in The Spectator: “I am in dire need of finance in the region of $30,000. This arises from the fact that I have retired from politics.”

A major figure sucked into this unseemly mess is Michel Platini, the respected French president of Fifa’s European branch. He not only voted for Qatar, but ten days before the 2010 vote, had lunch with Qatar’s prime minister and the crown prince (and now ruling emir) at Elysee Palace where the host was Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.

Although there might be no connection between the meeting and the many trade deals signed between France and Qatar, cynics suggest otherwise. In addition, Qatar Sports Investment, a state-owned company, has since bought Sarkozy’s favourite football team, Paris Saint-Germain, and has spent lavishly to buy major talent. Finally, and possibly conclusively, Platini’s son has become CEO of Burdda, a Qatari sports equipment company.

These allegations are bad news for Qatar’s attempt to punch above its weight. With a native population of 300,000, this tiny state has for years been playing a high-profile role in the region and beyond. By establishing Al-Jazeera, the popular TV channel, it has annoyed its more powerful Arab neighbours in and around the Gulf. And more recently, it was instrumental in negotiating the release of an American soldier in exchange for five senior Taliban prisoners held in the infamous prison at Guantanamo. It has also played an active mediatory role in Middle East conflicts.

All this hyperactivity by an upstart kingdom was frowned upon by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The rulers of these conservative states were specially outraged by Qatar’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood when it was briefly in power in Egypt. So there is probably now an element of quiet satisfaction at the young Qatari emir’s discomfiture.

Another factor in Qatar’s isolation is the mistreatment of the thousands of foreign construction workers hired to build the new football stadia and other major infrastructure projects currently under construction. Widely reported in the Western media, many workers from the subcontinent have died due to their appalling working conditions. And the local kafala system virtually enslaves them, giving employers the right to hold their passports, making it impossible for them to quit.

When pressed, Fifa insists it has taken up the issue with Qatari authorities who make vague promises of reform. But thus far, workers sweat and die in fifty-degree heat to finish the construction projects in time. So far, Qatar has spent $500 million; another $25 billion has been earmarked for highways, and $36 billion for an underground train system.

But more than these colossal amounts, it is the loss of face the Qataris fear most should Fifa decide to hold the vote for the 2022 World Cup again. Already, the country has adopted a siege mentality, accusing the media of ganging up on them. They ask why the World Cup should not be held in an Arab country.

The truth is that there is no conspiracy out there, only greed and ambition. Why anybody even took the Qatari bid seriously is no longer a mystery.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2014