Qatar's World Cup bid team has been accused of 'sabotaging' its rivals to win the right to host the 2022 tournament.

According to The Sunday Times, the Qatar team carried out a "black operations" campaign which involved disseminating fake propaganda about prominent figures from Australia and the USA, who also lodged bids for the World Cup.

The smear campaign allegedly involved paying a professor £6,900 to write a falsified report about the cost of a World Cup in the USA, while the Qatar team also reportedly hired journalists and bloggers to promote damning stories in the American and Australian media about their respective bids.

The newspaper also claims that several American PE teachers had been asked to tell congressmen that money spent on a World Cup would be better spent on funding sport education.

The USA has since been awarded the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.