Organisers of the Qatar 2022 World Cup are to meet Fifa's chief ethics investigator amid calls for the Gulf State to be stripped of the tournament if corruption allegations are proven.
US lawyer Michael Garcia's talks with officials from the Qatar bid in Oman come after the Sunday Times published fresh claims about payments being made to African federations to win support for the successful 2022 campaign.
The newspaper says it has seen millions of documents which show Qatar's victory was helped by a covert campaign by Mohamed Bin Hammam, a former Qatari vice-president of Fifa.
The claims came ahead of the findings of an inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes conducted by Mr Garcia.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter, right, with Mr Bin Hammam in 2010 He said his Fifa ethics committee was expected to complete its investigation by June 9 this year and would report on its findings six weeks later - which would be after the World Cup in Brazil.
The newspaper alleged Mr Bin Hammam used secret funds to make "dozens" of payments totalling more than $5m (£2.98m) to win support for Qatar's bid.
It was also claimed he paid $1.6m (£950,000) into bank accounts controlled by Jack Warner, the former vice-president of Fifa.
Qatar's bid committee has denied any wrongdoing and said it would "take any steps necessary" to defend the process.
Qatar and Russia's bid committees celebrate their World Cup successes Fifa has not commented on the newspaper's allegations.
Prime Minister David Cameron says Mr Garcia's inquiry should be allowed to run its course.
"There is an inquiry under way quite rightly into what happened in terms of the World Cup bid for 2022. I think we should let (it) take place rather than prejudge it," he said.
In a statement the Qatar 2022 bid committee insisted Mr Bin Hammam had played no role in its bid and that it was "cooperating fully with Mr Garcia's ongoing investigation".
Artist's impression of one of Qatar's proposed stadia It said it was confident the inquiry would show it had won the World Cup fairly "because it was the best bid and because it is time for the Middle East to host its first Fifa World Cup".
Meanwhile, the Football Federation Australia (FFA) has revealed it has also been investigating claims of corruption in the Qatari bid.
FFA chief executive David Gallop told SEN radio in Melbourne the association has been "heavily involved" in interviews and the production of documents.
FA boss Greg Dyke says the bribery allegations are alarming "We need to get more information about what's been revealed in the last 48 hours," he said.
"But don't be under any illusion that we haven't been heavily involved in all of this for some time now.
"We've been involved in interviews, production of documents and also following carefully what's been happening away from Australia - so we've got people that have been involved for some time now."
Australia was one of five countries that competed to host the 2022 World Cup along with Qatar, South Korea, the United States and Japan.
Football Association chairman Greg Dyke is among those who have called for the bidding process to be rerun if the bribery claims are shown to be true.
He told Sky Sports News: "If there is a proper investigation and that investigation says that there was corruption involved, which I know the Qataris are denying, then obviously there will have to be a revote."
He added that "a lot of people" have wondered why Qatar was awarded the tournament, given concerns about the heat in the country, its lack of football tradition and the decision to build eight new stadia in the country.
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