LONDON: The head of Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority has called for Qatar to be stripped of hosting the 2022 World Cup if found guilty of ethics violations relating to its winning the right to hold the showpiece.
Turki Al-Sheikh said in a statement via his Twitter account that while he did not want to see the Gulf state lose hosting rights the Qatari government should be punished if any wrongdoing is revealed.
“I do not wish for the World Cup to be withdrawn from Qatar by FIFA. However, if found guilty of any ethical violations, the Qatari government must accept the consequences of their actions,” Al-Sheikh said on the social media site.
He went on to say that if Qatar was punished, the hosting rights for the tournament should go to either England or the US.
“England is the birthplace of modern football. Its history and pedigree would make it a great host. The USA has tremendous experience in hosting global sporting events,” he added.
The 2022 event has been dogged by allegations of vote buying and other scandals ever since Qatar was announced as host back in 2010.
September 2018 will be an intense month in the corridors of football's powerbrokers pic.twitter.com/HqZkMrZ3Sp
— تركي آل الشيخ (@Turki_alalshikh) February 24, 2018
Al-Sheikh’s tweet comes a day after a report in Focus, a German magazine, that stated that FIFA is going to reconsider Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 edition and take a decision at the end of the summer.
Aside from allegations of corruption Qatar has been under fire for its treatment of builders working on half-completed stadiums, with unsafe conditions and low wages leading to numerous deaths and claims of modern-day slavery from human rights groups.
