French prosecutor wants Bin Hammam tried over Qatar 2022 vote

France's financial prosecutor's office has asked that four people, including disgraced former Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam, be sent to trial for corruption in connection with the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

The move at the end of August, confirmed to AFP, comes three years after a magistrate in Paris issued an international arrest warrant for Bin Hammam, who has been banned for life from football following accusations of corruption and conflicts of interest.

It is part of a probe launched in 2019 which is focusing on the role played by Bin Hammam in the actions of Reynald Temarii, ex-president of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), on the eve of the vote that awarded the competition to Qatar.

Temarii is also one of the four people targeted by the prosecutor's office (PNF).

He had been suspended by FIFA from its executive committee for breaching its code of ethics ahead the World Cup hosts vote on December 2, 2010.

Bin Hammam had paid for Temarii's defense costs of 305,000 euros ($323,000) after the Tahitian appealed, thus preventing the OFC from appointing a replacement, who would have voted for Australia rather than Qatar.

It is now up to investigating judges to decide whether or not to send the case to trial.

The PNF wants Bin Hammam and Temarii to be sent to trial for "passive private corruption".

Temarii told AFP in October 2022 he had been the "victim of fraud".

The other two people targeted by the PNF are consultant Jean-Charles Brisard and his ex-wife Geraldine Lesieur, who used to be Temarii's lawyer, for "fraud and receiving the proceeds of corruption".