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SWAZILAND CITED IN QATAR WORLD CUP SCANDAL!

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MBABANE – The 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar scandal has taken a new twist as Swaziland has been listed among 30 African countries implicated in the matter.


The scandal which has rocked the entire world football fraternity, has gained momentum following recent revelations by British newspaper Sunday Times over the past weekend. Former FIFA Vice President Mohamed Bin Hammam is alleged to have helped secure votes for the oil rich country from the 24 FIFA executive committee which voted during the bid in December 2010. Federation of Zambian Football (FAZ) President Kalusha Bwalya has also been hugely implicated in the scandal alongside Swaziland, Namibia and Mozambique football associations.


While National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) President Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa came out to distance his office from the allegations, the British publication claimed to have obtained a number of secret documents proving that Bin Hammam made dozens of payments of up to $200,000 (E2 144 360.94) to top football officials to secure votes for Qatar.

Bin Hammam also allegedly deposited the money through slush funds into accounts of the 30 African football associations. He also reportedly hosted lavish events for African officials where he also handed out almost US$400,000 (over E4 million) in cash. “Other football bodies in Southern African implicated in the scandal are Swaziland and Zambia, with the Zambia Football Association president Kalusha Bwalya said to have received US$30 000 from Hammam in 2009,” reads the report in part. Mthethwa, in an interview yesterday, said his association was not aware of the matter, and that there was no way they could feature as the voting was done by the FIFA executive committee members.


“I have been following the issue, and like everyone else, we were all looking at the FIFA executive committee who were the body that voted. I am not aware that we were implicated, and as the person who leads the delegates to the FIFA congress I should know if there was anything of that nature,” he said.


The matter is now splashed across various newspapers sites across the globe and Swaziland is among three Southern Africa countries caught up in the allegations. Bin Hammam resigned from his post in 2012 after being caught up in a corruption scandal surrounding his failed campaign for FIFA presidency in 2011. The decision to award football’s biggest tournament to the tiny desert state of Qatar initially provoked widespread condemnation. Many have voiced concern that the Gulf Kingdom’s stifling summer heat would be unhealthy for the players.
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Comments (2 posted):

vikimpi mngomezulu on 05/06/2014 10:35:54
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Government should not take this matter lying down it should launch its own investigations to clear the name of the country. We are watching your every move on this matter.
tee on 05/06/2014 21:17:33
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Wuwi...live lakagogo Nkhosi yam. This is blackmail and I don't believe it,,,,ngoba sibukekasilive lelimphofu.

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