Man accused of facilitating bribes for Qatar in 2022 World Cup bid worked for Fifa for six years
The man accused in Parliament of facilitating bribes on behalf of Qatar’s successful 2022 World Cup bid worked for Fifa for at least six years as an advisor to Mohamed Bin Hammam, the governing body confirmed today.
In the spotlight: Fifa president Sepp Blatter (right) and Mohamed Bin Hammam the delegate for Qatar Photo: REUTERS
By Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter 11:31AM BST 13 May 2011
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Amadou Diallo was named in allegations published by the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee as having arranged bribes of $1.5m allegedly paid to Fifa executive committee members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma. Both men deny the allegation.
Bin Hammam confirmed to the Telegraph Sport on Wednesday that Diallo is a close friend of his, and the Guniean is a member of Bin Hammam’s campaign team in the run-up to next month’s Fifa presidential election.
A Guniean based in Paris, Diallo regularly travels with Bin Hammam as part of his entourage.
Fifa confirmed this morning that Diallo was an employee from at least 2001 to April 2007 working in the Goal Bureau, of which Bin Hammam the chairman.
Diallo was not on a Fifa central contract but was paid out of a Goal budget under the control of Bin Hammam. In an email to the Telegraph Sport this morning Fifa said: "We can confirm that Amadou Diallo was working until April 2007 paid by Fifa on a Goal Bureau chairman budget with the task of monitoring Goal projects." A Fifa source said that payments to Diallo ceased in April 2007 and that the
discretionary budget made available to Bin Hammam also ceased at that time. The source said the decision was made by Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke.
The Goal Bureau is the Fifa department that distributes development funding to national associations. President Sepp Blatter established the department as a means of distributing World Cup revenues to associations and put Bin Hammam, his one-time ally, in charge of the organisation.
On Wednesday Bin Hammam said he was certain Diallo has done nothing wrong: "I will not deny this friendship, he is a close friend of mine, but I am sure that he has done nothing wrong," he told Telegraph Sport.
"I will meet up with him from time to time and he will travel with me here and there, but he is not playing any part in the decisions I take.
"If you know the role he plays you will laugh at these allegations. He's simply a friend of mine and he has nothing to do with Qatar or anyone."
The bribery allegations were contained in a letter passed to the select committee by the Sunday Times and are based on a conversation with former Fifa general secretary Michel Zen Ruffinen, and an anonymous whistleblower.
Zen Ruffinen told the paper that Diallo worked for Qatar "to arrange financial deals with African members in exchange for World Cup votes".
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