Qatar 2022 World Cup: Platini in favour of re-vote if corruption proved

UEFA president had backed Gulf state to develop football in the region

PARIS, FRANCE: Uefa President Michel Platini backed a fresh vote on the 2022 World Cup if proof ever emerged of corruption in the awarding of Qatar as the venue.

"As for Qatar 2022, I wasn't influenced," the Fifa vice-president who voted for the Gulf state told TF1 television.

"As far as I'm concerned, the vote was held in all transparency and we've always said that in the event of the slightest hint of corruption, there'll be a new vote. But for now, we don't know."

The head of European football has never disguised the fact that he voted for Qatar in a move to help develop football in parts of the world where the World Cup has never been staged.

Since the vote, he has campaigned for a switch to hold the sport's showcase in the winter rather than summer months to avoid the stifling temperatures.

Russia in 2018 and Qatar four years later were awarded the World Cup staging rights after a voting process dogged by allegations of corruption.

Last month Fifa received the findings of an inquiry into the votes by Fifa's ethical commission.

The man spearheading allegations of corruption into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids has called for Fifa to make the results public.

Former US federal prosecutor Michael Garcia, who has notably been looking into the way Qatar won the right to host the 2022 tournament, made his appeal last month on the eve of a two-day Fifa Executive Committee meeting being held in Zurich.
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