Switzerland's prosecutor to address World Cup bid probe on Wednesday
Switzerland's top federal prosecutor will discuss the investigation of FIFA's 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, which were won by Russia and Qatar, on Wednesday.
In a statement released by the office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, Michael Lauber “will not deliver any further information, other than his statement concerning the ongoing football investigation."
FIFA had asked the Swiss prosecutors in November to investigate possible criminal activity involved in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes.
Swiss federal prosecutors opened criminal proceedings on May 27 relating to the awarding of those tournaments, after raiding a Zurich, Switzerland hotel and arresting seven FIFA officials for a separate United States investigation of bribery and racketeering.
Hours before, the United States Justice Department indicted and charged 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, accusing the men of decades of "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption by former and current FIFA officials.
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According to Sky Sports, the investigation will also look into the money paid for a friendly between Argentina and Brazil in Qatar that took place three weeks before the World Cup vote took place in 2010.
Switerland’s attorney general's office raided FIFA offices in Zurich last week, taking possession of computer data from world soccer's governing body as part of their investigation.
- Scooby Axson
