Russia, Qatar could lose World Cup hosting rights: FIFA
A senior FIFA official says Russia and Qatar could respectively lose the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, if it is proven that they have secured the privilege illegally.
"If evidence exists that Qatar and Russia received the (World Cup) awards only thanks to bribes, then the awards could be annulled," the head of FIFA's auditing and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, told the Swiss Sunday newspaper, Sonntagszeitung.
The top official at soccer's world governing body, however, said, “This evidence has not been provided” to date.
Switzerland has already launched a probe into the granting of the World Cup events to Russia and Qatar.
The development comes in the wake of a scandal involving some senior FIFA officials. The corruption case was made public on May 28, when Swiss authorities launched a raid on a gathering of senior FIFA members in the Swiss city of Zurich, arresting seven of them.
It was said that the arrests were made in line with an investigation led by the United States into corruption allegations against the FIFA officials.
Chuck Blazer, a former member of the FIFA Executive Committee, has told a federal judge in the United States that he had received bribes to vote for South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup as well as during the sale process of the broadcasting rights of the tournament.
Seventy-year-old Blazer also said he had accepted bribes over the 1998 World Cup hosting right, which was finally won by France.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced at a press conference at the organization's headquarters in Zurich last week that he plans to step down as the head of the world's governing body of soccer.
IA/HMV/SS
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