Sports & Politics Intersect: An old FIFA foe shows up as a fan in Russia
newsdepo.com
«It's all politics. I think they've got to put it aside when it comes to the games.» Korosh Asli, Iranian fan The first week of the 2018 World Cup has been an exciting one with many fascinating storylines off and on the pitch. Here's a quick runSports & Politics Intersect: An old FIFA foe shows up as a fan in Russia
«It's all politics. I think they've got to put it aside when it comes to the games.» Korosh Asli, Iranian fan The first week of the 2018 World Cup has been an exciting one with many fascinating storylines off and on the pitch. Here's a quick rundown of what transpired.We kick things off with Russia, the tournament's host country. While the local national team is having a fantastic World Cup — they've already secured their place for the knockout stage thanks to two decisive victories — Putin has been busy courting further controversy by inviting Sepp Blatter to two matches and to the Kremlin. For the unfamiliar, Blatter was the head of FIFA for 17 years until he was banned over accusations of corruption. Despite being barred, Blatter claimed that he was merely suspended, and that he was permitted to go to the World Cup as a fan. That Putin invited Blatter shouldn't come as a surprise, since many believe that Russia's winning bid was helped by bribery. In other non-Blatter-related news, the Russian leader is al Read more