BRASÍLIA, June 3 — FIFA president Sepp Blatter refused to answer journalists’ questions yesterday on new allegations of corruption in the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Blatter, who was meeting President Dilma Rousseff 10 days before the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, refused to answer when asked if he was in favour of holding a new bidding process for the 2022 edition of the tournament.

“I am speaking about the World Cup in Brazil and it will be a wonderful Cup in Brazil. Let’s live up the emotions,” he said.

Earlier, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke also refused to comment on the deepening row over Qatar’s controversial winning bid.

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“No answer, no question,” he said at the launch of the World Cup TV broadcast centre in Rio de Janeiro.

Qatar has denied allegations by Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper that Mohamed bin Hammam, a former FIFA vice president from Qatar, paid more than US$5 million (RM16 million) to football officials around the world before the 2010 vote that awarded the tournament to Qatar.

FIFA said yesterday it would complete a long-awaited probe into Qatar’s winning bid and that of Russia for the 2018 World Cup — also the target of corruption allegations — by June 9.

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The choice of Qatar shocked many people because of the searing heat that any summer matches will be played in.

Blatter said last month it was a “mistake” to choose Qatar to host the World Cup in the summertime. He is pushing for the 2022 tournament to be rescheduled to the northern winter. — AFP