No grounds to strip Russia, Qatar of World Cup hosting rights: Fifa

The statement followed comments by the chief of Fifa’s compliance committee that the two nations could lose the right as hosts if evidence was presented that bribes influenced their winning the vote.

Updated on: Jun 10, 2015, 04:30:40 IST

Agencies | By HT Correspondent, Zurich

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Fifa has said there are no legal grounds for football’s governing body to strip Russia and Qatar of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively, in a statement on Monday.

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The statement followed media comments by Domenico Scala, chief of Fifa’s compliance committee, who said the two nations could lose the right as hosts if evidence was presented that bribes influenced their winning the vote.

But Fifa said in a statement reported by CNN: “Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups by democratic vote of the Executive Committee. Based on expert opinions and available facts, Fifa has no legal grounds to take away the hosting of the World Cup from Russia and Qatar. We will not speculate on possible scenarios and therefore have no further comments for the time being.”

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