Russia: US probe of FIFA is ‘illegal’

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused the United States of illegally aiding in the arrest of multiple officials in soccer’s chief governing body.

Swiss authorities arrested seven officials for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in Zurich early Wednesday morning amid a corruption probe into the sport.

Russian officials charged on Wednesday that the Department of Justice had overstepped its legal authority by aiding Swiss law enforcement on the case.

{mosads}“Without going into details about the charges that have been brought up, we point to the fact that this is another case of the illegal extraterritorial application of U.S. laws,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

“Once again, we urge Washington to stop trying to set itself up as a judge far outside its borders and to follow generally accepted international legal procedures,” the agency added.

The DOJ unsealed a 47-count indictment against nine FIFA officials and five related corporate executives on Wednesday morning for charges including money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud.

Swiss law enforcement officials additionally launched a separate criminal investigation into FIFA for its decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko rejected accusations that his country might have unfairly influenced the bidding process over FIFA’s 2018 World Cup.

“We’re prepared to show everything,” Mutko said, according to The Associated Press.

He added that Russia has “nothing to hide” from the international community about how it became the host of the prestigious sporting event.

Switzerland’s indictment alleges that U.S. and South American executives involved in promoting soccer paid more than $150 million “in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights” for international soccer tournaments.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch criticized FIFA on Wednesday, saying the organization had dirtied the reputation of the world’s most beloved sport.

“I think FIFA has a lot of soul-searching to do,” she said during a press conference.

Corruption in soccer “is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,” Lynch added.