Sepp Blatter, president of world football’s governing body Fifa, has not ruled out a re-run of the vote to host the 2022 World Cup if evidence proves that members of the voting panel were bribed by Qatar to vote for its ultimately successful bid to host the tournament in 2022.

“…Don’t ask me now yes or no, let us go step by step. It’s like we are in an ordinary court and in an ordinary court we cannot ask: If, if, if,’’ said Blatter in an interview with the Press Association when asked about the possibility of a re-run on the 2010 vote.

Fifa is investigating claims by the UK-based newspaper the Sunday Times in early May that Qatar paid $1.5m to two members of the voting committee to vote for Qatar to host football’s World Cup in 2022.

The Sunday Times claims it has evidence that Fifa members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma were paid $1.5m each to vote for Qatar. The whistleblower at the centre of the scandal has reportedly agreed to give evidence to Fifa that Qatar bribed Fifa officials to support its 2022 bid.

The allegations of corruption have been described as “entirely false” by the Qatar Football Association.

Qatar was selected by Fifa on 2 December last year to host the 2022 World Cup tournament. The state has pledged to spend upward of $60bn in developing its infrastructure to host the event.