Sky Sports: Putin and Medvedev appear in US Department of Justice report on bribery of FIFA head

The US Department of Justice has released a report on the FBI's investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. It, among other things, contains allegations about the country’s purchase of the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, according to the British TV channel Sky Sports .

The 430-page report contained details of a report by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele about the bribery of the leadership of the International Football Federation (FIFA) by a Russian oligarch in choosing the host country of the 2018 World Cup.

In 2011, Joseph Blatter served as FIFA President, although he is not mentioned directly.

“In July 2011, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele provided a report that summarized an alleged conversation between then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. According to the report, in this conversation, Putin admitted that one of the Russian oligarchs had bribed the FIFA president. so that Russia wins the right to host the 2018 World Cup,” claims the British TV channel.

Steele also provided the FBI with his later report from June 2015, which cited a government official's admission that the Kremlin had bribed FIFA officials.

A report has been published which claims that a former FIFA president was bribed by a 'Russian oligarch' to award hosting rights to Russia for the 2018 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/21I5kyCB9n

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 10, 2019

Let us recall that Russia received the right to host the 2018 World Cup based on the results of voting on December 2, 2010 in Zurich , having received more than half of the votes in the second round. The England bid was eliminated after the first round.

Later, the investigative chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, led by Michael Garcia, had to conduct an investigation into the results of these elections, the final report of which did not contain claims against Russia . As Alexey Sorokin, general director of the Russia 2018 organizing committee, said, the Russian delegation conducted its application honestly and did not need to buy anyone .

In 2017, the German tabloid Bild already accused Vladimir Putin of meeting with dishonest FIFA representatives while promoting the country’s bid to host the World Cup, listing these meetings in chronological order. The list included a number of football officials who were later banned for life for corruption and vote trading.

“It is unknown what Putin talked about with the scandalous functionaries and what he promised them. But Putin would not be Putin if he had not taken precautions,” notes Bild.