The French anti-corruption organisation has also targeted Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

Anticor has accused the quadruple of influence peddling, bribery, criminal conspiracy, illegal election campaign financing, and concealment.

Earlier this month, Anticor filed a complaint with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office stating its allegations.

Its suspicions surround a €600,000 (£530,000/$660,000) payment in 2011 from Qatari company q.media, which was ran by Al Thani's son-in-law, to De La Brosse's company ZNZ.

At the time he had agreed a €2 million (£1.7 million/$2.2 million) payment for an internet television channel called "Enjoy Qatar".

"Are we here faced with an offer of a corrupting pact which would have been made with the specific and sole objective of thanking Mr. François de La Brosse for his services, or are we faced with the partial realisation of a broader corrupting pact which would have been concluded previously between Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy and Qatar?" said an Anticor statement, as reported by Le Monde.

ZNZ assisted Sarkozy's successful election in 2007 by providing advertising services for his campaign.

However, Sarkozy was never charged for what De La Brosse estimated would be worth €270,000 (£238,000/$298,000) at the time.

"It is natural for Anticor to intervene in this important matter potentially linked to the 2022 World Cup," said Anticor lawyer Jean-Baptiste Soufron, as reported by Le Monde.

"Beyond a possible illegal financing of the campaign, offenses of influence peddling and corruption could have been committed, the system potentially put in place during the campaign having possibly given rise to personal enrichment."

De La Brosse has dismissed the saga to be corruption related to the World Cup and merely describes it as, "I lent money, a large sum to Sarko, and he never reimbursed me and I went bankrupt."