WATCH: World Cup whistleblower says she lives in fear
She had given evidence of corruption in Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid.
Yesterday (Nov 19), the whistleblower claimed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has offered her protection - after threats made against her and her children.
Phaedra Almajid, who worked for the Qatar 2022 bid team before losing her job in 2010, provided evidence to investigator Michael Garcia’s independent inquiry into corruption allegations surrounding both the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
The Fifa World Cup trophy displayed at the Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, during the final on 14 July. PHOTO: ACTION IMAGES
Almajid gave her evidence on condition of anonymity – a condition she believes was flouted deliberately when a summary of Garcia’s report was published by global football governing body Fifa’s ethics committee judge Hans-Joachim Eckert last week.
She told Sky Sports News:
"Do I regret being the Qatar whistleblower?
It has cost me personally, it has cost me emotionally – I know for a fact I will be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life."
Children targeted
She added: "It has cost me my credibility and most importantly it has cost me the security of both me and my children.
"However I did witness something and I believe I did have to say what I had witnessed."
Almajid said she believed the threats had more to do with Qatar than Fifa: "I had a lot of cyber attacks, a lot of them were directed to my children.
"I do believe it was through the Qataris. They knew a lot of information about me that I don’t believe Fifa knew or were interested in.
"I was a bigger threat to the Qataris than I ever was to Fifa."
Almajid and fellow whistleblower Bonita Mersiades, who worked for Australia’s unsuccessful 2022 bid, have separately lodged formal complaints against Eckert’s summary.
Source: AFP
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now