FIFA's independent audit commission leader Dominique Scala identified assumptions that could prevent the future World Cup hosts - Russia and Qatar - from being able to host the most important soccer events on the planet. "If we were to receive serious evidence that Russia or Qatar violated the election campaign rules and bought votes, then the championships would be handed over to other hosts," a FIFA official told the Swiss newspaper "Sonntags Zeitung" in an interview.
Over the weekend, another incredible news about FIFA corruption emerged - it was said that FIFA President Sepp Blatter personally negotiated with the President of South Africa for the 2010 World Cup to take place in that country for a sum of 10 million US dollars.
"If the hosts of the 2018 World Cup - the Russians and the representatives of 2020 - Qatar are named as vote buyers, FIFA would immediately select new hosts for the tournament," Scala told the newspaper. "But for now, we do not have such data that bribery took place."
Two years ago, Scala also spoke about possible scandalous dealings when Russia and Qatar were awarded the rights to host the football championships, but at that time the interview did not attract much attention.
Scala became the first high-ranking FIFA official to mention the possibility of revoking Russia's or Qatar's rights to host the most important football event.
Swiss officials are already investigating how Russia and Qatar acquired the rights to host the 2018 and 2022 championships by conducting a large-scale investigation into the corruption scandal, which also raised questions about the organization of the World Cup in South Africa.
It is said that the "price" of a vote for one country or another is not small - former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner allegedly asked for 7 million US dollars for his vote.
US prosecutors accuse about 14 current or former FIFA officials and sports marketing executives of participating in a large "gratitude tax" scheme in which a total of about 150 million dollars was paid over 20 years.
These news have caused turmoil in the football world and last week led to the resignation of long-time FIFA President Sepp Blatter, just four days after he was re-elected for a fifth consecutive term.
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