Thirteen US senators have asked FIFA to strip Russia of its 2018 World Cup hosting duties and award the tournament to another country as punishment for "its ongoing violations of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine".
In a letter sent to FIFA president, Joseph Blatter, the senators wrote: "with the goal of ending the crisis in Ukraine and ensuring a successful 2018 World Cup, we strongly encourage FIFA to deny the Putin regime the privilege of hosting the 2018 World Cup and make preparations for an alternate host country".
The senators believe that allowing Russia to host the World Cup "inappropriately bolsters the prestige of the Putin regime at a time when it should be condemned and provides economic relief at a time when much of the international community is imposing economic sanctions" on Moscow for breaking up the Ukraine.
According to the senators, 40 countries, all FIFA members, have implemented sanctions on Russia "in an effort to end the conflict".
The US legislators consider it "unacceptable that while nearly half of the 2014 World Cup participants have joined the international sanctions regime to counter Russian aggression, FIFA would not even consider allowing its members to vote on moving the 2018 tournament".
The Senators also believe that the World Cup should be held in a country "that respects FIFA's shared principles and international law."
The letter was sent by 13 senators, four democrats and nine republicans. Democrat Robert 'Bob' Menéndez, and republicans John McCain and Marco Rubio were amongst the signatories.
Russia is set to host the FIFA World Cup from 14th June to 15th July 2018. The 2022 World Cup is being hosted by Qatar.
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