Mutko defends Russian World Cup bid
The Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has defended his country against allegations of corruptions and racism, saying that similar problems are just as common elsewhere.
Russia has been under scrutiny in the press because of its bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the world's largest football tournament. Speaking at a press conference at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, Mutko described what he believed to be an imbalanced focus on Russia's bid in the press.
“What I meant was that sometimes the English media say there is corruption in Russia but I meant that if you dig deeply you find corruption in any country," said Mutko. "On the whole the life of any small city or town has something to do with that. There are no ideal situations.”
Russia faces competition in the form of bids from England and the United States, as well as two joint bids Spain and Portugal and Belgium and the Netherlands to host the 2018 tournament.
Mutko: Racism just as bad elsewhere
Aside from allegations of corruption, Russian football has been criticized for its record on racism. In particular, West Bromwich's recent signing Peter Odemwingie has hit out at a banner held up by Lokomotiv Moscow's fans ahead of his departure from the Russian capital. "Thanks West Brom," read the banana-shaped sign.
But rather than commenting directly on Odemwingie's case, Mutko spoke of the problems experienced by other European countries.
“The English, Spanish clubs, all of us have problems. Several years ago we read that a motorcycle was raised to the highest tier in Italy and dropped."
Mutko, the former president of Zenit St. Petersburg, one of the Russian clubs that has been fined for its fans' racist taunting of players, argued that the presence of African players in the Russian Premier League suggests there is no problem with racism.
“A leading club like CSKA has three or four players from Africa,” he explained. “If there was such a problem they would not have stayed here. Every club always has some problems in relationships between players and fans and the club itself."
FIFA's inspections of all the candidates to host the 2018 World Cup end on 17 September. The winning bid is announced on 2 December.
Tags: