Qatar has said that it is confident it will retain the rights to host the 2022 World Cup following new allegations that an official from the country used his high-level contacts to help win support for its bid, a report said.

Questions about the integrity of Qatar's win have swirled since the 2010 vote. Britain's The Sunday Times last week disclosed what it alleged were $5-million in payments Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam made to build support for Qatar's bid.

The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said yesterday that it stands by a statement issued last week denying any impropriety in securing rights to host the tournament. It added that it has fully cooperated with an ongoing investigation into the 2018 and 2022 bid process, said the report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

Qatar has denied wrongdoing and insisted that Bin Hammam played no official or unofficial role in its bid.