Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he will not fly to Zurich for the 2018 World Cup vote, to be held on Thursday.
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Putin says he wants to avoid exerting any pressure on Fifa officials ahead of the vote. Analysts say Putin, who had been slated to speak on behalf of the bid, could be distancing himself from the Russian campaign because he does not want to be linked to a loser.
Putin made a high-profile trip to Guatemala in 2007 to help secure the 2014 Winter Olympics for Sochi, having announced that trip more than a week in advance.
England, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands are also in the running for the 2018 World Cup. The vote will take place at the world football governing body’s headquarters in Zurich.
On Tuesday Prince William, British Prime Minister David Cameron and David Beckham arrived in Zurich to help England’s bid. They hope to limit the potential damage caused by a BBC television investigation that accused four Fifa voters of corruption.
US Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to join former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday to push the US bid for the 2022 tournament.
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Pressure builds ahead of Fifa World Cup vote
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Three highly ranked Fifa officials, who will cast votes, were accused by a BBC Panorama programme aired on Monday of taking bribes in the past. Two other officials have already been suspended and will take no part in the vote. The allegations have spilled over into another sporting organisation housed on Swiss soil – the…
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But the complex regulatory and legal situation means it could take two to three years to find a decent long-term solution, the minister commented on Tuesday during the annual meeting of international sports federations based in canton Vaud. “It’s clear that Switzerland is obliged to do something to fight corruption as we have lots of…
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But a further claim by British newspaper The Sunday Times that some bidding countries were guilty of collusion before the December 2 vote in Zurich was dismissed. Fifa’s ethics court suspended Amos Adamu of Nigeria from all football activity for three years for agreeing to take bribes from undercover reporters from The Sunday Times who…
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“The extent and unsubstantiated content of these allegations must be set right,” Sepp Blatter said in a 30-page report released on Saturday. “They will come back to haunt my accusers, above all the general secretary, [Michel Zen-Ruffinen].” Blatter said he was responding to an explosive report released on May 3 by Zen-Ruffinen. The FIFA president…
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Football: a game where two 11-member teams try to push a ball into the opposing team’s goal, using any part of the body except their hands and arms. This simple recipe has helped make it the most popular sport in the world. (All pictures: Reuters/Keystone)
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