Fifa scandal: US investigation includes 2018 and 2022 World Cups
The FBI's investigation of Fifa, the world's football governing body, involves scrutiny of how it awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 competition to Qatar.
A US official confirmed that the awards to host the next two global competitions would form part of the probe that led to Sepp Blatter's resignation as Fifa president.
Read more: Fifa's crisis shows the need for individual, rather than cultural change
Speculation has increased over the future of the World Cup in the two countries, with just three years until Russia's hosting of the competition.
Earlier, the Qatari foreign minister told Reuters:
Qatar is honest and confident it has done nothing wrong, and the bashing campaign against Qatar is based on prejudice and racism.
It is very difficult for some to digest that an Arab Islamic country has this tournament, as if this right can't be for an Arab state.
The news wire is reporting:
The FBI’s investigation of soccer governing body FIFA includes scrutiny of how the organization awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 competition to Qatar, a US law enforcement official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the review of the awards to host the tournament would be part of a probe that is looking beyond the allegations in an indictment announced a week ago of officials of world soccer’s governing body.
Swiss prosecutors said then that they were investigating the 2018 and 2022 bids.