„I hope not,“ - these were the words spoken by Russian President Vladimir Putin when a journalist asked him about the country's risk of losing the right to organize the 2018 World Cup. While Moscow is carrying out aggression against Ukraine, there is increasing talk that the Russians should not host the football fiesta, but V.Putin feels confident.
„FIFA has already said that football and sports are beyond politics. I think this is the right attitude,“ he said.
During the FIFA members meeting in Monaco, the latter avoided questions about V.Putin. UEFA President Michel Platini also did not want to talk about the situation in Russia.
However, there are more and more people in the world who are trying to raise the issue of the championships. US Senators Dan Coats and Mark Kirk reminded that due to the wars in the Balkans in the early 1990s the European Championships of 1992 and the World Championship of 1994 Yugoslavia was expelled.
FIFA said that it continues to support Russia on the issue of the World Cup, and called any forms of boycotting ineffective.
„History has shown that boycotting or isolating sporting events is not the most effective way to solve problems,“ FIFA stated.
During the fights between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists, 2,593 people have already died. Among them - civilians.
Russia plans to host the World Cup in eleven cities.
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