Berlin –  FIFA executive member Theo Zwanziger said in a newspaper interview on Friday that Qatar was playing a damaging role in international sport.

The former president of the German football association (DFB) told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that: “Qatar’s endless wealth is spreading nearly like a cancer over football and sport.’’

Bribery allegations have been levelled against the 2022 World Cup hosts, though they have been denied by officials.

“This small country is using its economic strength to influence political and sporting decisions,’’ he said.

“If, at the end of bidding process for the World Cup, there is not a proper decision, but the worst possible one, then that is a huge defeat for football.’’

Zwanziger criticised German clubs, as they have already contemplated changing the season to accommodate the 2022 World Cup. “One needs to ask which Bundesliga clubs travel to Qatar for training camps.

“Similarly, one should ask which international teams have been there already. That would be worth an investigation,’’ he said.

Zwanziger also criticised the DFB and his successor Wolfgang Niersbach for their position on former FIFA president Joao Havelange.

“Why did the DFB not put forward a resolution at the last FIFA congress that Havelange’s honorary FIFA presidency be withdrawn?

“Such a position would have been believable. I would have liked the DFB to have made it.’’

The FIFA congress in Mauritius at the end of May is to discuss withdrawing Havelange’s honorary presidency. The Brazilian has been implicated in a bribery scandal around FIFA’s former marketing partner ISL. (dpa/NAN)