The Sun: Qatar should be stripped of 2022 World Cup if votes were bought, says MP Damian Collins

Qatar should be stripped of the 2022 World Cup if it is proved votes were bought, claims MP Damian Collins.

Former Uefa president and Fifa vice-president Michel Platini was released from police custody in the early hours of this morning after being detained yesterday.

He was quizzed by French cops as part of a criminal probe into the Qatari bid.

Platini told reporters after his release: "It hurts. It hurts for everything I can think of, everything I've done. It hurts, it hurts. But after all, they did their job and then we tried to answer all the questions.

"It was long, but given the number of questions it could not be different.

"I feel totally foreign to any of these matters. This is an old affair, you know it, we explained it. I have always expressed myself with full transparency in all the newspapers. That's it, it goes on, they investigate, they search."

But Collins, chair of the DCMS Select Committee which has pressed for a full investigation into the controversial 2010 decision to award the finals to the Gulf state, says the issue is not going away.

He told SunSport: “It could barely be more serious than for a former Uefa president to be arrested as part of a criminal investigation into the World Cup bidding process.

“If there is evidence of wrongdoing, then it should prompt a wider, thorough investigation into the decision to award Qatar the World Cup.

“If it’s proven the rules were broken by Qatar, then they have to consider all appropriate sanctions, including moving the tournament.

“What has to be proven for Qatar to lose the World Cup is that votes were bought.

“Monsieur Platini will have to answer the questions put to him by the authorities. But it shows this investigation has not gone away.”

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Copyright 2021 Damian Collins. All rights reserved

Promoted by Stephen James for and on behalf of Damian Collins, both of Folkestone & Hythe Conservative Association both at 4 West Cliff Gardens, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1SP

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