A FIFA official has said that, should evidence of bribery be found, both Qatar and Russia could lose their World Cup hosting rights.
Domenico Scala has said in a statment to Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung: "Should there be evidence that the awards to Qatar and Russia came only because of bought votes, then the awards could be cancelled."
Scala added in his statement: "Until today, the respective evidence has not been provided."
Seven FIFA officials were arrested on May 15 in Switzerland and are amongst 14 people charged in the U.S. for accepting bribes estimated at over US $150 million, with charges spanning 24 years.
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter also resigned amidst corruption charges, a mere four days after his re-election.
American lawyer Michael Garcia was hired to investigate the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes. His findings were released by FIFA as a summary of his full 430-page report, but Garcia complained their representation of his work was "erroneous".
Garcia quit weeks later over FIFA's handling of his inquiry and his comments reopened the debate about the validity of the bidding process.
Phaedra Almajid, a Qatar World Cup whistleblower, has reaffirmed her belief that the country will eventually lose the tournament hosting rights, according to the Telegraph.
Swiss authorities have also launched a separate criminal investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated.
Qatar's hotel construction demand is estimated at 60,000 keys by 2022, with the small desert country going so far as to consider putting guests on 'floating hotels' in the Arabian Gulf to make room for all of them.
Existing properties are expecting massive business from the hotel guest and F&B perspective and the loss of the World Cup would mean a huge loss of revenue -- not only in the immediate lead up to 2022, but in terms of making Qatar a top tourist destination.
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With nearby Dubai hosting Expo 2020 and with a major theme park destination set to open in 2016-2017, Qatar would need to find other ways to stay attractive to foreign visitors, spur investment and to keep the hospitality industry -- vital to Qatar's economy -- afloat.
Many of the major hotel groups have properties in the pipeline for the next few years and it remains to be seen whether they will pause those plans until Qatar is officially cleared in this scandal.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he supported Qatar hosting the 2022 tournament but said Britain would work with another country if FIFA re-opened the bidding process.
"We would offer our support to any country that has been chosen to host the World Cup," Hammond said.
He ruled out any British bid to host the 2022 competition if Qatar was stripped of hosting rights.
Neither Qatar nor Russia has been charged of any wrongdoing for their World Cup bids.
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