AMSTERDAM: The Dutch football federation has referred itself to the FIFA ethics chamber after media allegations about the conduct of the vain Belgium/Holland bid to host the 2018 World Cup writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Almost every World Cup bidding effort for the finals of 2006, 2010, 2018 and 2022 have come into question amid the unravelling of the corrupt practices in operation at the heart of world governing body FIFA.

The latest allegations were published earlier this month by the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant and concerned the employment by the bid of Amadou Diallo to press its case in Africa.

Diallo, originally from Guinea but based for years in Paris, had previously worked for six years with FIFA’s Goal Bureau, the committee long headed by Bin Hammam and which distributed money to worldwide development projects across the world.

The task assigned to Diallo was to monitor the projects and he was paid on a freelance basis from 2001 until 2007 directly out of Bin Hammam’s own budget.

‘Payment approval’

Volkskrant has claimed that Diallo, at one time an associate of now-disgraced Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam, was then paid at least €10,000 by the Belgium/Holland World Cup bid in breach of regulations.

The newspaper claims to have seen bid documents confirming approval of a payment in 2009 to Diallo who then referred to a bonus-led financial arrangement in an email exchange with Bin Hammam.

Payment to Diallo was routed from Beltomundial, a non-profit-making organisation set up in 2007 as a support vehicle for the Belgium/Holland bid effort.

Inquiries into the allegations were launched by both the Dutch federation and by the Brussels public prosecutor.

The KNVB has announced that its lawyers and financial controllers have studied all its bid documentation and found evidence of no a breach of rules.

However, for the sake of transparency and because it is still awaiting a report from the Belgisan federation, it was reporting itself to FIFA.

A KNVB statement said: “The KNVB, at a meeting on Wednesday, December 16 decided to give a forensic accountant to audit the HollandBelgiumBid.

“[This is] following an article on December 12 in De Volkskrant, in which the actions of the KNVB and the Belgian Football Association in an attempt to bring the 2018 World Cup to the Low Countries, is discussed in detail.

“All available documents have been taken out in the open and further studied by lawyers and controllers of the union. Based on this fact reconstruction . . . no violation occurred.

“To get the complete picture, the KNVB [is] still awaiting information from the Belgian FA. Furthermore, the KNVB will turn to the ethics committee of FIFA, which previously evaluated the HollandBelgium bid … as a result of the research integrity of the American investigator [Michael] Garcia.

“[To ensure] completeness and accuracy the KNVB wants this to be checked by an external audit firm. It is expected that this process will be completed in the first quarter of 2016. When the independent investigation is completed, the KNVB will report.”

Russia won host rights to the 2018 World Cup but the bidding process and that for 2022 are being studied by the Office of the Swiss Attorney-General.

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