New York / Moscow – Russia has emphatically rejected the new bribery allegations from the United States regarding the 2018 World Cup.
«Russia has been given the right to hold the World Cup absolutely legally. This was in no way associated with any kickbacks, we categorically reject it, »said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskow of the agency Interfax. He responded to allegations from the United States that Russia could have bought a vote at the 2018 World Cup. Russia had previously dismissed similar allegations.
The former head of the Russian World Cup organizing committee, Alexei Sorokin, emphasized that Russia had not bought any officials from the FIFA World Cup. “It’s just an opinion of lawyers,” he said, referring to an indictment in the United States. “We kept saying that our application was open.” Russia has always replied to all questions from FIFA and the media and provided relevant documents.
“We will not respond to attempts to cast a shadow over our application,” said Sorokin of the Interfax agency. «I don’t know how to react to it. Some FIFA official says he has received a bribe. Our job was to submit an application book – and we did. » The U.S. Prosecutor’s Office outlines the alleged fraud in World Cup awards to Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 as never before in the indictment.
According to the indictment, Jack Warner, who has now been suspended for life, received a kickback of $ 5 million for his vote for Russia – paid through ten offshore straw companies in more than two dozen transfers. The name of the demonstrably corrupt ex-FIFA vice from Trinidad and Tobago also appeared in the scandal surrounding the 2006 World Cup in connection with a draft contract. Ex-official Rafael Salguero from Guatemala is said to have been offered at least one million US dollars for his vote to Russia.
