… there was wide speculation that Sepp was for the US bid and against the Qatar bid. He just didn’t have the juice (yes, even as head of FIFA) to fight the Bin Hammam-led factions behind it. In fact, it appears to have been the final straw (along with the election) that broke Blatter’s alliance with Hammam.

Second, the claim by Warner is, thus far, entirely unsubstantiated. It sounds very much like something that could have happened, but Warner is far from a reliable source here. I’d love it if he had a smoking gun to prove his allegation, but I’m thinking he probably doesn’t.