The US news agency claims it used the services of former CIA employee Kevin Chalker in two stages: first to host the 2022 World Cup and then not to lose its rights to host the tournament, despite a wave of criticism from Western media and human rights organizations.
Next year’s World Cup is a chance for the Qatari to improve their image on the world stage. So far it is going poorly. Basic human rights are not respected in an absolute monarchy ruled by the emir. This also applies to workers from South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka) who work on the construction of soccer stadiums. The Guardian revealed a year ago that workers are treated like slaves, stripped of passports, and no security standards, including covid, are met. More than six and a half thousand workers were to die in the construction of infrastructure.
“One of them published matrimonial ads claiming to be attractive women on Facebook”
An Associated Press investigation revealed that Qatar sought an advantage in securing the rights to host the World Cup by hiring Chalker to spy on members of other nations’ committees competing to host the World Cup. Activists who chose Qatar as the organizer were also under surveillance. American journalists have hard evidence – conversations with Chalker’s former associates, as well as contracts, invoices, e-mails, and business documents.
How did the spying happen? “One of Chalker’s employees claimed to be a photojournalist, among other things, to follow the offer of a rival country with Qatar.” But the ex-man’s associates with the CIA also had more exquisite ways. “One of them published matrimonial ads, claiming to be attractive women on Facebook. In this way, he wanted to get closer to the employees of a competitive football committee” – reads AP. Chalker also managed to get the content of FIFA employees’ phone calls.
The representatives of the Qatari government did not respond to requests from PA journalists for an explanation. FIFA also declined to comment. Chalker said in a statement that he and his companies “will never engage in illegal surveillance.” However, he did not comply with requests for an interview or reply to specific questions about his work for Qatar.
Lawsuit by a former associate of Trump
The AP says many of the documents analyzed by the agency describing the work undertaken by Chalker and his company on behalf of Qatar were also attached to a lawsuit filed by Elliott Broidy, a former associate of former US President Donald Trump. Broids accused Chalker of running a massive hacking and espionage campaign at the behest of the Qatar. It was supposed to involve the use of former intelligence officers to surveillance FIFA activists. Chalker’s lawyers, of course, consider the lawsuit unfounded.
But it’s not just Qatar who uses dirty – and above all illegal – licks. Three former US intelligence workers recently admitted hacking services to United Arab Emirates-based DarkMatter. A Reuters investigation revealed that DarkMatter members hacked the phones and computers of the Emir of Qatar, his brother and FIFA activists. The authorities of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – to put it mildly – do not like each other. The competition between PSG and Manchester City on European football fields is just one of the scenes of the war between them.
In addition to Qatar, the United States, Australia and South Korea also submitted candidates for the organization of the 2022 World Cup. One document from Global Risk Advisors – one of Chalker’s countless companies – lists the US as a “threat” to Qatar, while Russia, the host of the 2018 World Cup, was assigned the slogan “chance”. – This is a problem for US national security. It is really dangerous when people who have had access to our country’s most sensitive secrets work for those who will pay them more and use all the knowledge we have passed on to them, says AP John Scott-Railton, Citizen Lab researcher at the University of Toronto which tracks cyberspace companies.
Victory with the USA
When Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup 11 years ago, the country was euphoric. “Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, a prominent Islamic scholar, said he was happy that Qatar humiliated the United States so much,” the PA reads. But the Qatar people have long been accused of corrupting FIFA members in order to win their votes. The AP claims that Chalker also acted as a subcontractor to the detective firm Diligence, founded in London by former Western intelligence officers.
In 2010, Diligence took an interest in the US committee for the organization of the World Cup. She commissioned a fake photojournalist to secretly report on a visit by FIFA activists to the US. According to AP materials, Diligence also used the services of a person using a false profile of an attractive young woman on Facebook to communicate with the employees of the American committee.
In addition, Chalker commissioned Diligence to obtain information on FIFA activists Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer. The latter pleaded guilty to corruption charges before a US federal court in 2013. He was to accept bribes in exchange for votes of support for the candidates for the 1998 and 2010 World Cup.
Former executive director of the US 2022 World Cup committee, David Downs told AP that he was not surprised by the latest revelations about Qatar. “It is very telling that they are hiring former CIA agents to obtain classified information.” Much of what they did was either bend the rules or even break them, Downs said of the Qatar.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
