DHAKA: The head of Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee has categorically denied the country bought the 2022 tournament.

Hassan Al Thawadi broke his silence following a Daily Telegraph investigation that uncovered the first hard evidence that the Qatar’s most senior football official gave a fellow Fifa vice-president millions of dollars shortly after his nation was awarded football’s showpiece event.

Mohammad Bin Hammam was not directly linked to Qatar’s bid but was banned for life from football over allegations he paid bribes while running for the Fifa presidency in 2011.

It has yet to be determined whether this included £1.2 million that documents show he gave Jack Warner and his family that same year, or whether any of the money was linked to the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Those directly involved in Qatar’s bid for the tournament have always denied any wrongdoing, something reiterated by Al Thawadi, who led their delegation and is now secretary general for the 2022 World Cup’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

He told talkSPORT, ‘We did not buy the World Cup. It’s as simple as that’, reports gulfnews.com.

‘I go back to a lot of people that look at us and say it’s shocking that we won and I go back to the simple thing — why we won. It’s because we worked hard, harder than a lot of people.’

BDST: 1723 HRS, APR 05, 2014