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Sony Fifa World Cup

Sony demands investigation into Fifa bribery

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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

June 8, 2014 | 2 min read

Sony, one of the key sponsors of Fifa, has demanded that the football governing body opens an “appropriate investigation” into the alleged bribery of officials for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Fifa’s decision in December 2010 to award the tournament to Qatar has been met with controversy this week after the Sunday Times alleged that Qatar's former Fifa vice president, Mohamed Bin Hammam, paid officials £3m to win support to host the World Cup, the BBC reports.

According to leaked emails, Bin Hamman discussed “bilateral relations” with Vladimir Putin in the run up to the voting for the 2018 and 2022 games, fixed meetings between nine Fifa executive committee members with members of the Qatari royal family and brokered “government level” talks for Thailand's Fifa executive Worawi Makudi over a deal to import gas from Qatar to Thailand.

Bin Hamman, who has declined to comment, was banned from Fifa for life in 2012 in a separate corruption controversy.

Britain's Fifa executive committee member Jim Boyce told the BBC: "Since I joined Fifa's executive committee in 2011 half of the committee has gone.

"Mr Bin Hammam, who there's been a lot of talk about recently, has been banned for life by Fifa and many of these other people mentioned are no longer at Fifa as well.

"There are a lot of very good people at Fifa and people who are only interested in furthering the game of football. And obviously Fifa don't get enough credit for what they do around the world."

Fifa has strongly denied any allegations of wrongdoing, while Fifa's chief investigator, New York lawyer Michael Garcia, is currently carrying out an investigation.

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