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Organizers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar say French police who questioned Michel Platini recently did not contact them and continue to insist that there was no wrongdoing in the award of the tournament.
"I cannot give you any more comments because there is an investigation going on, other than saying that we have not been contacted by the French authorities," said Hassan Al-Thawadi, chairman of the Qatar World Cup organizing committee on Friday.
Platini was president of the UEFA from 2007 to 2015, which means that when Qatar won the 2022 bid in 2010, he was Europe's top representative at FIFA.
Michel Platini, former UEFA president, was questioned by French police about the 2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process. /VCG Photo
Al-Thawadi pointed out that the 2022 World Cup bidding process was not the only thing Platini was questioned about. "What I read is that it was in relation to many issues, one of them was Qatar 2022. (It was also about) Russia 2018, Euro 2016 and many other related matters and, of course, ultimately he was let go. Michel has always been very open, very transparent."
Both Al-Thawadi and Al Khater, CEO of the organizing committee, emphasized that Qatar had been investigated for various allegations since it became the host nation. However, all of the claims turned out to be "baseless" and Qatar has been cleared of any wrongdoing, they said.
The two executives also answered questions about the availability of alcohol in their country for the World Cup. They promised that anyone "looking for a drink" during the tournament will "surely find it."
To many fans, beer is part of the fun watching soccer. /VCG Photo
"Alcohol is legal and available in Qatar. It's not as available as in many other countries around the world, it's not something that is part of our culture, but hospitality is. We haven't finalized all the plans yet, but what we can say to fans is whoever is going to be looking for a drink in the World Cup will surely find it," said Al Khater.
He and Al-Thawadi were speaking at the Copa América in Brazil in which Qatar is participating in Group B with Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay. The Gulf state have not won a game so far, but neither have Argentina, their next opponents on Sunday, nor Paraguay.