“We read the media reports. We do not understand what we can talk about. Russia's right to host the World Cup was absolutely legitimate, which is by no means linked to any bribes. We surely deny it. Russia held the best world cup in history, what we are proud of, what our whole country is proud of", Peskov said.
Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice indicted several ex-members of FIFA’s executive committee on allegations of a role in a corruption scheme during the selection of the host countries of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Russia and Qatar respectively.
A 53-count third-superseding indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charged sports marketing executives Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez, formerly of Fox; Gerard Romy, former co-CEO of Imagina and Full Play with wire fraud and money laundering, the release said.
The indictment follows the US government’s long-running investigation and prosecution of corruption in organised soccer, the Justice Department said.
