FRANCE 2 – THURSDAY OCTOBER 13 AT 11 PM – DOCUMENTARY
On November 23, 2010, the President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, receives for lunch, at the Elysée Palace, Michel Platini, President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), in the presence of the Crown Prince (and current Emir) of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Qatari Prime Minister. What did the guests discuss, a few days before the designation, on December 2, 2010, of the gas emirate as host country for the 2022 FIFA World Cup?
After eight months of a very detailed investigation, based on numerous legal documents, the magazine “Complément d’Enquête”, in collaboration with the investigation unit of Radio France, brings new elements on the presumed role of France in the awarding of the Mondial to the emirate, which will be the subject of a judicial investigation opened in 2019 for “corruption” by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
Why did the influential Platini finally vote for the emirate? Did he get any rewards? Did Nicolas Sarkozy “monetize” the support of France in exchange for the takeover by Qatar Sports Investments of Paris Saint-Germain, then owned by the Colony Capital fund of his friend Sébastien Bazin, current CEO of the Accor group?
A note from the Elysée’s diplomatic cell in November 2010, written before lunch at the Elysée and consulted by “Complément d’Enquête”, sheds new light on the affair: among the subjects on the agenda of the day of this meeting featured Qatar’s bid for the World Cup as well as “the sale of missile defense systems” and “the sale of combat aircraft”(of Dassault’s Rafale).
Sports adviser to Mr. Sarkozy at the Elysée Palace, author of notes on the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the Head of State, former MP Sophie Dion (LR) denies any collusion with Qatar but admits having received 13,000 euros as part of a consultant contract of 52,000 euros signed with the emirate in February 2012, while she was still officiating at the Elysée.
Behind the scenes
Among the clues unearthed by director Pierre-Stéphane Fort are also messages sent by Sébastien Bazin to relatives, evoking the “key messages” forwarded to Nicolas Sarkozy before lunch on November 23, 2010 and a “deal” with Qatar.
Equipped with a tiny camera, Pierre-Stéphane Fort also filmed behind the scenes of the preparations for this World Cup: the images are eloquent. With the help of migrant workers, he went to the industrial zone of Doha, where he observed the unsanitary conditions – the word is weak – of the premises in which the workers live.
Emphasis is placed on the questionable practices of an Accor subcontractor security provider, Al Bateel Security, and on one of the seven providers of the Al Messila hotel in Doha (where the French team will be staying during competition) for the disgraceful treatment inflicted on its employees.
“If it hadn’t been for football, it would have been worse, much worse”, believes the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët. Just before the broadcast of the documentary, the FFF finally decided “to send a specific mission to check on site that all service providers respect social rights”.
Qatar 2022: a French scandal?, documentary by Pierre-Stéphane Fort and Nicolas Bellot (Fr., 2022, 52 min). Distributed as part of the magazine “Further investigation”on France 2, in collaboration with the investigation unit of Radio France.