2018 FIFA WORLD CUP IN RUSSIA

29 Mar 2017, 13:34

Diplomat slams calls to boycott 2018 FIFA World Cup as ‘campaign to contain Russia’

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman commented on a German politician's remark that "a country where fundamental civil rights were not observed must not in principle host any world championships"

© Artem Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The calls to boycott the 2018 FIFA World Cup are part of a campaign to contain Russia, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

The Russian diplomat thus commented on a statement by Deputy Chairman of the German ruling CDU/CSU party Michael Fuchs who said earlier that "a country where fundamental civil rights are not observed must not in principle host any world championships."

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"The proposal to boycott the World Football Championship in Russia originated not after ‘participants in an unauthorized rally in Moscow were detained," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook.

"This is part of a campaign, a global strategy developed by Western analysts in the context of the policy of containing Russia. And the Russian side, which has the relevant data at hand, warned about this," she said.

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Football 2018 World Cup in Russia Maria Zakharova

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