Qatar was responsible for stealing the private email communications of eight Egyptian football players and other prominent Egyptians who were targeted as part of an extensive hacking scheme that affected over 1,200 international figures of influence, according to documents obtained by Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Fahmy, an Egyptian-born award-winning author, revealed the names of the hacked soccer players during a recent press conference in Cairo, including players for Egypt’s national team as well as three other regional clubs.

Over the past two years, Qatar has also been on the receiving end of criticism from its Arabian Gulf neighbors for the harboring and funding of Islamist groups including the U.S.-designated terrorist group, Hamas.

Fahmy told the Caller that he will be creating several documentary films, one of which will focus on the hacking of Egyptian soccer players’ and political figures’ email accounts. He mentioned that it was a “surprise” for him to see the names of the eight Egyptian soccer players among many politicians, academics, ambassadors and heads of state.

Other experts, however, believe the hack of prominent football players is in line with both Qatar’s ambitions in both athletics and geopolitics.