Putin Accuses US of Meddling into FIFA Affairs, Visa Sponsorship Threatened

Local Editor

The unprecedented twin investigations into FIFA had demonstrated that the opaque organization was subject to the law, not above it.

The Swiss were looking into the controversial 2018 and 2022 World Cup soccer bids, which awarded the games to Russia and Qatar respectively.

The Americans had outlined a case that sounds like a mafia movie script, with allegations of fraud, racketeering and money laundering over a period of more than 20 years.

Several senior FIFA officials were among the defendants facing extradition from Europe, South America and the Caribbean.

"This really is the World Cup of fraud," said Richard Weber, head of the IRS Criminal Investigation division.

Earlier, 7 of the 14 defendants wanted by US officials were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, said US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The majority of them were contesting extradition to the United States, according to Swiss authorities.

Meanwhile, US law enforcement officials said they're not done yet; the indictment unsealed "is the beginning of our work, not the end" of an effort to rid global soccer of corruption, said Kelly Currie, acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of meddling in FIFA's affairs and hinted that it was part of an attempt to take the 2018 World Cup away from his country.

Putin said in televised comments that he found it "odd" that the probe was launched at the request of US officials for crimes which did not involve its citizens and did not happen in the United States.

"Our American counterparts, unfortunately, are using the same methods to reach their goals and illegally persecute people. I don't rule out that this is the case in relation to FIFA," Putin added.

Though, he confirmed that if "someone has done something wrong," Russia "has nothing to do with it."

In the meantime, some of the biggest corporate names associated with soccer have already spoken out.

Visa, in a strongly worded statement late Wednesday, called on the world's premier soccer organization to "take swift and immediate steps" to clean up its act.

"It is important that FIFA makes changes now," Visa said. "Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship."

Earlier, another major sponsor, Coca-Cola, said the "controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup." The company said it had "repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations."

Other multimillion dollar sponsors, including Adidas, McDonalds and Budweiser's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, also issued statements saying they were in contact with FIFA.

But it remains to be seen if any of them would go as far as severing ties.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team