MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Reports that transpired Wednesday indicated that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was looking into the awarding of the right to host the World Cup to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Both countries have denied any wrongdoing.
"You can really see that they try to stop the world championship in Russia, try to isolate Russia, so Russia has to fight for its right," IPB’s Reiner Braun said.
Swiss-based IPB is considered the world’s oldest international peace organization, founded in 1891. It is also the 1910 Nobel Peace Prize winner, as are 13 of its officers.
Last week, the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging 14 people – among them nine senior FIFA officials – with racketeering, money laundering and taking some $150 million in bribes and kickbacks.
The same day, seven senior FIFA officials who came to Zurich for an annual conference were arrested in Switzerland. In addition to the US case, Swiss prosecutors launched a criminal probe into how the bidding process for 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
