Qatar confident in remaining World Cup host

DUBAI — Qatar says it is confident its winning bid to host the 2022 World Cup will stand following new allegations that a Qatari official used his high-level contacts to buy support for the OPEC member’s bid.

The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said Sunday that it stands by a statement issued last week denying any wrongdoing in securing rights to host the tournament.

Its comments follow the release of fresh allegations published in Britain’s The Sunday Times that Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam, a longtime member of FIFA’s executive committee, arranged government-level talks for a Thai FIFA executive to discuss a natural gas sale.

Qatar last week denied allegations by the paper that Bin Hamman made $5 million in payouts to football officials to build support for the bid.

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