TIMELINE: The trail of corruption allegations and scandal surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar
Michel Platini, the former FIFA executive board member and French football legend, has been detained for questioning by French police over allegations of corruption related to Qatar being awarded the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
The development is the latest in a long line of investigations and allegations against the shock decision in December 2010.
November 2010
An alleged “secret meeting” takes place in Paris between the then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Qatar’s then-Crown Prince (now Emir) Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and Michel Platini, who at that time was both UEFA president and vice-president of FIFA.
December 2010
FIFA announces that Qatar will stage the 22nd World Cup, winning 14 of the 22 executive committee votes – including Platini’s. The decision is met with surprise, derision and suspicion.
January 2011
The then FIFA President Sepp Blatter says he expects the competition to be held in winter, to avoid the summer heat.
May 2011
A former member of the Qatari bid, Phaedra Al-Majid, claims that money was paid to members of FIFA’s executive committee in order to buy votes.
The Qatar 2022 bid team deny any wrongdoing, saying their name had been “dragged through the mud for no reason.”
June 2011
FIFA executive committee member, the Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam, is found guilty of bribery and banned from all international and national football activity for life.
July 2011
Al-Majid retracts her claims of corruption, but later says she did so after being coerced by Qatar’s organising committee.
July 2012
FIFA commissions a report into allegations of corruption led by Michael Garcia, head of its ethics committee.
September 2013
Amnesty International uncovers “human rights abuses” on World Cup construction projects, releasing a report that details “an alarming level of exploitation.” In the years that follow, human rights groups issue report after report documenting abuses towards the workforce building Qatar’s World Cup infrastructure.
June 2014
The Sunday Times reports that Hammam had made payments to football officials in return for votes for Qatar.
December 2014
Garcia resigns after losing an appeal against FIFA’s decision to publish what he described as an “erroneous” summary of his 430-page report.
May 2015
Seven FIFA officials are arrested in Zurich for alleged racketeering, conspiracy and corruption while Swiss authorities raid the FIFA headquarters looking for evidence linked to the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
June 2015
Blatter resigns after 17 years in charge of Fifa.
September 2015
Swiss authorities open criminal proceedings against Blatter focusing on a payment of two million Swiss francs to Platini. The payment was for work carried out by Platini as a consultant for FIFA between January 1999 and June 2002, but was not executed until 2011 – three months after Qatar won its bid to host the World Cup.
October 2015
Blatter accuses Platini of going back on an agreement that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup and the USA would host the 2022 tournament. Blatter says Platini changed his mind and backed Qatar after the November 2010 meeting with Sarkozy and Sheikh Tamim in Paris.
December 2015
Blatter and Platini are banned from football for eight years by FIFA’s ethics committee.
April 2017
The National Public Prosecutor’s Office in France launches an investigation into how and why the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded to Russia and Qatar.
June 2017
Fifa finally releases Garcia’s full report on corruption at the organization.
June 2019
Platini held for questioning by French police in Paris as part of the investigation into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
