Russian Sports Minister Denies FIFA Arrests Tied to 2018, 2022 World Cups

Earlier in the day, several FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, and could face extradition to the US on federal corruption charges, including fraud, racketeering, money laundering, as well as corruption in marketing and broadcasting deals over the last 20 years.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The arrests of top officials from FIFA have nothing to do with the host bids of the World Cup 2018 in Russia or the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Wednesday.

“I don’t have all the information, but in line with the list of those detained, this doesn’t have anything to do with the choices of the World Cup-2018 [in Russia] or the choice of Qatar [in 2022],” Mutko told R-Sport by telephone.

A source familiar with the situation earlier on Wednesday told R-Sport that the arrests of the FIFA officials had been tied to the winning host bids of the World Cup-2022 in Qatar and slightly concern Russia’s bid for 2018.

The Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police has launched a criminal case over the choice of the two host nations for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on suspicion of abuse of office and money laundering, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors or police have not questioned Russia’s organization committee’s general director currently in Switzerland in regard to the arrests of several FIFA officials.

“Yes, I’m here at the hotel [where the arrests of FIFA officials are underway] in Zurich, but there have been no questions from the police in my address,” Russia-2018 Organization Committee General Director Alexei Sorokin told R-Sport by telephone.