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The
FBI's investigation of bribery and corruption at FIFA
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Russia and Qatar could be stripped of their World Cup hosting
rights if evidence emerges of bribery in the bidding process, the independent
chairman of FIFA's audit and compliance committee told a Swiss newspaper.
The FBI's investigation
of bribery and corruption at FIFA includes scrutiny of how soccer's governing
body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar, a U.S. law enforcement
official told Reuters this week.
Domenico Scala told
SonntagsZeitung that FIFA the two countries could lose the hosting rights
should evidence emerge of bribery in the bidding process.
Reuters report continues:
"If evidence should
emerge that the awards to Qatar and Russia only came about thanks to bought
votes, then the awards could be invalidated," Scala said in an interview
published on Sunday. "This evidence has not yet been brought forth."
Russia and Qatar have
previously denied wrongdoing in the conduct of their bids for the 2018 and 2022
tournaments, which were not the subject of charges announced by U.S.
prosecutors last week against FIFA officials.
Scala had made similar
comments in 2013 but events over the last two weeks, which included a dawn
police raid in Zurich and the arrests of several FIFA officials on U.S.
charges, have added urgency to his remarks.
Sepp Blatter unexpectedly
announced on Tuesday he was resigning, just four days after securing a fifth
term as FIFA president and shortly before it emerged that he too was under
investigation by U.S. law enforcement.
In a separate interview
with Swiss paper Sonntags Blick, Scala also floated the idea of term limits for
the FIFA presidency.
"If a FIFA president
does two or three cycles that is enough," Scala is quoted as saying.
A representative for
Scala confirmed his remarks.
FIFA did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
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