Son of Fifa official moved to work in Qatar after country got World Cup vote
A senior Fifa official’s son was given a job at a private Qatari hospital
shortly after the decision to award the country the 2022 World Cup.Pieter D’Hooghe, who is the son of the Belgian executive committee member and
medical officer Michel D’Hooghe, was approached by a surgeon at Aspetar
hospital in February 2011 and asked if he would start a “visiting surgery”
at the clinic. In 2012, he started working at Aspetar permanently and moved with his family
to Doha.Pieter’s father, Michel, was one of 22 people who awarded Russia and Qatar the
2018 and 2022 tournaments. It is unclear which bids he supported because the
votes are cast in secret. However, the news about the approach to his son only three months after the
decision in Switzerland will raise questions about the relationship between
some officials and countries that bid to host the event. Pieter D’Hooghe denied that his appointment at Aspetar was connected to the
World Cup bidding process and said that he was a “well recognised sports
surgeon”. His Michel said: “I did not exchange my son for a vote for Qatar.
In fact, my family was very disappointed that my son left his successful job
in Belgium to go to Qatar”.Since the decision to award Russia and Qatar the tournaments Fifa has faced
repeated calls to rerun the contest.Both Qatar and Russia have always denied wrongdoing, but many people have
expressed concern over the decision to hold the football competition in a
desert state where temperatures hover around 104F (40C).Pieter D’Hooghe is not the only relative of a Fifa official who has gained
employment with a Qatari organisation following the vote in 2010.Laurent, the son of Michel Platini, the executive committee member for France
and president of Uefa, became the chief executive of Burrda, a Qatar-owned
sports company. Michel Platini has always said that his son’s role was completely unconnected
to him voting for Qatar to host the World Cup.Aspetar is a private orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital in the Gulf. The
organisation’s director-general is Dr Khalifa Jeham AlKuwari, who is also
the chairman of the Qatar Olympic Committee’s medical commission. According
to Aspetar’s website, the medical centre “provides the highest possible
medical treatment for sports-related injuries in a state-of-the-art
facility, staffed by some of the world’s leading sports medicine
practitioners and researchers”.The centre appears to have close links to Fifa and in 2009, Aspetar was
officially accredited as a Fifa Medical Centre of Excellence.
Several high-profile footballers have been treated there, including Didier
Drogba, a former Chelsea striker.
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