ZURICH: Organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have denied “all allegations of wrongdoing” after a British newspaper report questioned the integrity of choosing the emirate as tournament host.

The Sunday Times says it obtained “hundreds of millions of e-mails, accounts and other documents” detailing payments that Qatari official Mohamed bin Hammam allegedly gave football officials to build support for the bid.

The Qatar 2022 bid committee’s statement on Sunday stressed that Bin Hammam “played no official or unofficial role in the bid committee.”

However, most FIFA voters in December 2010 were Bin Hammam’s longtime colleagues.

The Qatari statement added that “we vehemently deny all allegations of wrongdoing. We will take whatever steps are necessary to defend the integrity of Qatar’s bid and our lawyers are looking into this matter.”