Growth will be negatively affected and prestige megaprojects are likely to be delayed if Qatar is stripped of hosting the Fifa 2022 World Cup, according to a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The bank predicts the loss of about $16bn in World Cup-related spending on infrastructure such as stadiums and hotels will cause a drag of 0.5 percentage points on real growth in GDP for each year in the run up to the 2022 event.

In addition, Qatar’s growth will suffer from delays to ancillary infrastructure projects worth about $100bn.

These ancillary schemes include megaprojects such as Lusail City, the planned Doha Metro, new high-speed rail lines and the country’s $7.4bn New Port Project.

Though many of these projects are unlikely to be cancelled, Bank of America economist Jean-Michel Saliba says the projects would “likely lose execution focus and face potential delays”.

Investigators are looking into allegations that Qatar bribed officials to secure the World Cup in 2022 amid calls for a new vote on who should host the competition.

Officials in Qatar maintain that they played fair. Writing in Newsweek on 13 July, president of the Qatar Football Association, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad al-Thani, said the country’s wealth meant it was unfairly being viewed with suspicion.

“I accept that we spent more money campaigning than other bidders, but this was solely to catch up with our better-known rivals,” he said.

The results of Fifa’s investigation are expected later this month.