Russia calls on Washington to 'stop trying to try FIFA officials'

The Russian Foreign Ministry defended the functionaries of the International Football Association (FIFA), accused of corruption, calling their detention "the illegal application of US law."
This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Lukashevich.
“Without going into details of the charges brought forward, we draw your attention to the fact that there is another case of illegal extraterritorial application of American law. We hope that this will in no way be used to cast a shadow on the international football organization as a whole and the decisions it makes, including personnel decisions,” Lukashevich said.
He called on Washington to stop attempts to "administer court far beyond its borders in accordance with its legal norms and follow generally accepted international legal procedures."
As UNIAN reported, the Swiss Federal Police arrested six FIFA officials in Zurich, whose extradition is demanded by the US. In total, 14 people are being prosecuted in the case brought by US investigative bodies.
In addition, it was reported that at least at least 10 sports officials, including Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, will be called in for questioning. Mutko himself said that he had not received the agenda yet, but he was ready to answer any questions from the investigators.
The scandal broke out just a few days before the election of a new FIFA president. At the same time, the current head of the Federation, Joseph Blatter, whom many have called for resignation, despite the scandal, remains the clear favorite of the elections.