A police investigation in Brazil has unearthed evidence of payments made by Qatari construction companies into a secret bank account of former FIFA executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira.
The news comes at the same time that Swiss police have raided the offices of a company in Zurich as part of a wider probe into allegations regarding a friendly match between Brazil and Argentina staged in Qatar in 2010. The match was financed by a Qatari construction firm with close links to the emir.
While the payments did not come from the official Qatar 2022 bid, they raise questions about whether the companies were attempting to influence voters.
Mr Teixeira’s name appears in both investigations. A judge in Monaco has accessed his secret bank account in the principality and passed its details to Brazilian police who were already investigating him for money laundering and tax evasion.
Brazilian prosecution sources say the account included money from Qatari companies that would benefit from World Cup building contracts should the Emirate be awarded the 2022 finals. A Brazilian indictment against Mr Teixeira revealed the account contained €30 million.
Teixeira denied his vote had been influenced. He claimed his Monaco account was set up two years after Qatar won the right to host the World Cup and contained only funds that had come from Brazil.
“I voted for Qatar, but I did not receive a penny for this,” he said.
