FIFA shelves bidding for 2026 World Cup

“I won’t get a fair trial in US”
Fallen FIFA executive Jack Warner, 72, said that US authorities would be unable to give him a fair trial, while an Argentinian businessman indicted in the soccer body’s sprawling corruption scandal handed himself over to Italian police. Warner is the subject of a US request to have him extradited from Trinidad. Warner said the US is not the “appropriate jurisdiction“ to handle the matter “fairly“ and claimed America is trying to exact revenge because it tried but failed to lobby FIFA to host the 2022 World Cup.
Lazio chief being probed for extortion
The president of Serie A club Lazio, Claudio Lotito, is under investigation for extortion. As per reports Lotito is being investigated by Italy’s General Investigations and Special Operations Division in relation to a series of illegal loans to football clubs.

Scandal-plagued FIFA postponed the bidding for the right to host the 2026 World Cup and embarked on the search to find a replacement for outgoing President Sepp Blatter.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said during an event in Russia that it would be “nonsense” to start the bidding process for the tournament for the time being.
Meanwhile, FIFA said its executive committee would hold an extraordinary meeting in July to discuss “various dates options” for the Congress which will elect Blatter’s replacement.
The FBI are investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including scrutiny of how football’s governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia, which won the bidding for 2018, and Qatar, which is due to host the finals in 2022.
The extent of the turmoil engulfing FIFA was apparent in an emotional outburst by the usually composed Valcke, who said he was being destroyed by the media in his native France and gave a theatrical defence of his decision to sign off on a $10 million payment at the centre of the U.S. bribery investigation.
The decision on who hosts the 2026 finals had been due to be made in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said he saw no threat to Russia hosting the cup in 2018 and its bid was in line with the law.