US Department of Justice: Russia bribed FIFA to get the right to host the 2018 World Cup

The officials were sued. The case file says that Russia paid $ 5 million to ex-FIFA vice president Jack Warner and promised another ex-member of the FIFA executive committee, Rafael Salgero, that they would vote for Russia.

"Part of the money came from companies based in the United States that performed work on behalf of an application to participate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup," the newspaper writes citing extracts from the indictment. In the fight for the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russia bypassed the UK.

The spokesman of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov denied the fact of the bribery. According to him Russia received the right to host the 2018 World Cup absolutely legally and held it with dignity.

Qatar paid the former representatives of the FIFA Executive Committee - Julio Grondon, Nicolas Leos and Ricardo Teixeira to get the right to host the championship in his country in 2022. The first two officials have by now died.

“Qatar is a tiny desert state that has spent billions of dollars preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar has bypassed the United States in a repeat vote by a group of voters that has already been cut because two members were secretly removed, agreeing to sell their votes,” - writes the publication.

The corruption scandal destroyed almost the entire organization, the publication concluded.

The 2018 World Cup was held in Russia. The Russian team reached the quarter finals. The French national team won the World Cup. Due to the coronavirus, the largest European football competition, Euro 2020, was canceled this year. He was moved to the next year.