- Russian sports minister says has nothing to hide from Swiss prosecutors
- FIFA World Cups in Russia, Qatar to be held as planned despite FIFA arrests — spokesman
- FIFA officials used positions to take bribes since 1991 — US Justice Department
- Swiss police seize bank accounts linked to FIFA high-profile corruption scandal
- Seven FIFA officials arrested in Switzerland — US Justice Department
MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. The arrest of FIFA officials in Switzerland upon a warrant from a US court offers a yet another instance of illegal exterritorial application of US legislation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a comment on Wednesday.
"Without going into details of the charged brought on against the officials, we are calling attention to the apparent fact of a glaring exterritorial application of the US law," it said.
The US Department of Justice said in its statement earlier in the day that a total of 14 people (nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives) were indicted for racketeering conspiracy and corruption. US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said a number of high-ranking officials at the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) have been using their positions to solicit bribes from sports marketers in exchange for the commercial rights to their football tournaments since 1991. In particular, the officials corrupted the process of bidding for the 2010 World Cup that was eventually held in South Africa - the first time the tournament was held on the African continent.