A security briefing ordered by FIFA less than a month before it awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup found the Gulf state was a “high risk” target for terror attacks during the tournament, the Sunday Times has reported.

The British newspaper accused members of football’s world governing body of having “ignored its own terror alert” in choosing Qatar in a secret ballot in December 2010, in a third week of revelations raising questions about the decision.

The security review of bid countries, ordered by FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke in mid-November 2010, reportedly found that Qatar would find it “very difficult to deal with a major incident” during the World Cup.