November 28, 2010: Senior FIFA Executive Denies He Has Agreed to Back Spain/Portugal World Cup Bid

Mohamed bin Hammam, a Qatari, senior FIFA executive committee member, and president of the Asian Football Confederation, denies that he has agreed to back the Spain/Portugal bid for the 2018 World Cup in return for Spain backing the Qatari bid. The claim was recently reported in the Spanish daily Marca, which purported to carry an interview with him expressing his support for Spain/Portugal. “A Spanish newspaper, called Marca, which I have never heard of, completely fabricated an interview with me, pretending that Asia and I will support Spain’s bid,” says bin Hammam. “The Asian executive committee had taken a decision to support Europe in 2018. However, no decision was taken to back any one country. We agreed to give the four Asian members the freedom to select the country that they deem appropriate.” [Daily Mail, 11/28/2010] It will later be reported that bin Hammam did indeed vote for Spain/Portugal (see May 1, 2011).