The Alleged Qatari Soccer Scandal
Mitchell Roy
The Basics of the Scandal
- The country of Qatar was the victim of the scandal
- The whistleblower was Phaedra Al-Majid, an international media officer for the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid
- Al-Majid accused Qatar of offering to pay three FIFA members to vote to have the World Cup in their country in 2022
- A judge ruled Qatar not guilty of bribery; Al-Majid's story had too many inconsistencies, Qatar's information was "full and valuable"
The Details
- The false rumor of Qatar paying for World Cup bids and then paying Al-Majid to not speak of the incident was exposed
- A judge ruled that Qatar was not guilty of both of these scandals
- Phaedra Al-Majid did not win the case, and is now receiving death threats because of it
- As a result, Al-Majid was fired from her seat as international media officer for the Qatar 2022 World Cup
- No changes came about due to this incident since Qatar was ruled innocent
My Reaction
I feel that Phaedra Al-Majid could not have made such a story up, and I do believe that Qatar could have been guilty, even at a lesser degree. Al-Majid may have exaggerated the truth a bit too much, which caused Qatar to be ruled innocent. However, even if Qatar committed a few smaller crimes to rig the vote, and valid evidence existed of this, they still should have been charged, or penalized at the least. The only reasons Al-Majid would have just pulled this story out of thin air were to gain money and publicity. Because she has a family and is doing pretty well for herself, these reasons seem unlikely, meaning that some validity should have been found behind her claim. Now, she, as well as her family, are reaping the negative consequences of her failed accusation in the form of repeated death threats. The FBI has stepped in to protect the Al-Majid family, but I do not believe that they should be put through the torment currently against them.