• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Politics
  4. World Cup Host Qatar Uses ex-CIA officer to Spy on FIFA
Sports

World Cup Host Qatar Uses ex-CIA officer to Spy on FIFA

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 23 Nov 2021 15:44
  • 1 Shares

Qatar, in its efforts to host next year's World Cup event, hired a former CIA officer who spied on senior football authorities for years.

  • World Cup host Qatar used ex-CIA officer to spy on FIFA
    AP’s investigation found Qatar securing hosting rights by hiring a former CIA officer.

Qatar has worked with a former CIA officer for years to help spy on soccer officials as part of a no-expense-spared effort to win and hold on to the 2022 World Cup tournament, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.

The World Cup is the planet’s most popular sports tournament. It’s also a chance for Qatar to shine on the world stage. 

The AP’s investigation found that Qatar secured hosting rights by hiring former CIA officer turned private contractor Kevin Chalker to spy on rival teams and key soccer officials who chose the winner in 2010.

Chalker also worked for Qatar in the years that followed to keep tabs on the country’s critics in the soccer world, the AP found.

The investigation is based on interviews with Chalker’s former associates as well as contracts, invoices, emails, and a review of business documents.

Operatives working for Chalker and Qatar also sought cell phone call logs of at least one top FIFA official ahead of the 2010 vote, a review of the records show.

Chalker also promised he could aid the country to “maintain dominance” over its large population of foreign workers, an internal document from one of Chalker’s companies revealed.

Qatari government officials did not respond to requests for comment. FIFA also declined to comment.

Chalker, who opened an office in Doha and had a Qatari government email account, said in a statement that he and his companies would not “engage in illegal surveillance.”

He refused to take part in an interview or to answer detailed questions about his work for the Qatari government. He also claimed that some of the documents reviewed by the AP were forgeries.

Read more: 2021 Roundup: Sportswashing human rights violations

  • World Cup
  • Kevin Chalker
  • FIFA 22
  • CIA
  • Qatar

Trending Now

All
Qatar's Khalifa International Stadium. (AFP)

World Cup security guards still imprisoned in Qatar after dispute

Most Read

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine counteroffensive

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine's counteroffensive

  • Africa
  • 24 May
The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

  • Analysis
  • 28 May
The domestically produced C919 passenger jet flies at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Peoeple's Republic of China, 8 November 2022. (Reuters)

China is set to launch first commercial flight on its C919 plane

  • Asia
  • 26 May
Kissinger bears considerable culpability for assaults in Cambodia that killed as many as 150,000 civilians

Kissinger's secret war in Cambodia reveals mass killings: Intercept

  • Asia
  • 24 May

Read this

All
In this image released by the Italian firefighters, a helicopter searches for missing passengers after a tourist boat capsized in a storm on Italy's Lago Maggiore in the northern Lombardy region, May 28, 2023 (AP)
Europe

Top Israeli intelligence official dead in Italy: Israeli media

  • 29 May
The Global Campaign to the Return to Palestine honours several "Return Ambassadors" in Beirut, Lebanon, May 29 2023. (@return_ar/Twitter)
Palestine

GCRP honors 'Return Ambassadors' to Palestine in Beirut

  • Today
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin attend a weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister's office in occupied Al-Quds, occupied Palestine, May 28, 2023 (AP)
Palestine

Let AI replace Netanyahu's government, opposition's Lapid says

  • 29 May
In this picture released by the Iranian Defense Ministry on Thursday, May 25, 2023, Khorramshahr-4 missile is launched at an undisclosed location, Iran (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)
MENA

Iran set to unveil its first ever hypersonic missile

  • 29 May
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS