Former FIFA Vice-President Reynald Temarii Indicted for Corruption in Qatar World Cup 2022 Bid

2023-05-27 10:47:20

The national financial prosecutor’s office is looking in particular at suspicions of financial arrangements between the Tahitian and the Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam.

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Posted on 27/05/2023 12:47

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Former FIFA vice-president Reynald Temarii, in office from 2007 to 2010, during an interview in Zurich (Switzerland), November 18, 2010. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

The former FIFA vice-president, the Tahitian Reynald Temariihas been indicted since May 22 for passive private corruption in the investigation in Paris into the awarding of the Mondial-2022 to Qatar, as declared on Saturday May 27 by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), confirming information from the Monde. This is the first indictment in this part of the judicial investigation opened in 2019 in Paris on the designation of the emirate as host country.

The investigating judges are interested in the volte-face of Reynald Temarii, also former president of the Oceanian Football Confederation (OFC). On December 1, 2010, the day before the World Cup was awarded to Qatar, the former footballer changed his mind about an internal procedure for breaching the code of ethics, appealing to general surprise. This had the consequence of depriving the OFC of a representative, and therefore of a vote, in the ballot which finally saw Qatar take the cup ahead of the United States. Since November 2021, Reynald Temarii has been placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness in this case.

Troubled ties with an influential Qatari

The PNF is also interested in the relationship that Reynald Temarii had with a member of the Qatari elite, Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation from 2002 to 2011. A time suspected of having bought votes for the Qatar, finally banned for life from FIFA in 2012 for embezzlement, Mohammed Bin Hammam had paid the defense costs of Reynald Temarii, for an amount of 305,000 euros. As the vote on the awarding of the 2022 World Cup approached, Tahitian had also been invited all expenses paid to Malaysia to meet Mohammed Bin Hammam there.