The deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom has added his voice to the growing number of some western politicians on the need for FIFA to strip Russia of the 2018 world cup host. This is due to the recent development of the shooting down of Malaysian jetliner MH17 in eastern Ukraine. The west especially the United States has blamed Russia for training and supplying weapons to separatist fighting the Ukrainian government. Eleven cities will host the prestigious sporting event in Russia as plans are far underway at the Samara for the 2018 world cup.
Football's world governing body FIFA this week ruled out calls from some German politicians for Russia to be boycotted, insisting that the tournament could be "a force of good". But the deputy prime minister of UK, Nick Clegg told the Sunday Times that allowing it to go ahead
without a change of course by president Vladimir Putin would make the world
look "so weak and so insincere" in its condemnation of Moscow's
annexation of Crimea and support for the rebels. The EU has added another 15
individuals and 18 entities to the list of those subject to asset freezes and
ambassadors in Brussels are expected to extend the punitive actions to
state-owned banks' access to capital markets and to the arms and energy sectors.
"Vladimir Putin himself has to understand that he can't
have his cake and eat it," he said. "He can't constantly, you know,
push the patience of the international community beyond breaking point,
destabilise a neighbouring country, protect these armed separatists in the east
of Ukraine and still have the privilege and honour of receiving all the accolades
in 2018 for being the host nation of the World Cup. "That's why I've come
to the view that if he doesn't change course it's just not on, the idea that
Russia will host the World Cup in 2018. "You can't have this – the
beautiful game marred by the ugly aggression of Russia on the Russian-Ukrainian
border. "Not only would Vladimir Putin exploit it, I think it would make
the rest of the world look so weak and so insincere about our protestations
about Vladimir Putin's behaviour if we're not prepared to pull the plug. "Vladimir Putin is a past master at
attending these sporting events and, sort of, pretending almost as if
everything's utterly normal and nothing untoward is happening around him. "And
if anyone needed any reminding of how dangerous this conflict is in the heart
of Europe, just ask any of the family and relatives of those loved ones they
lost in that plane incident last week."
Clegg said the threat of withdrawing the World Cup would be
"a very potent political and symbolic sanction".
"If there's one thing that Vladimir Putin cares about,
as far as I can see, it's his sense of status. "Maybe reminding him that
you can't retain the same status in the world if you ignore the rest of the
world, maybe that will have some effect on his thinking."
The US has expressed disappointment in the inability of the EU to impose serious sanctions that could cripple Russia economy. A move the US expects to force Russia hands off Ukraine. Most sectors have question the morality of the United States in criticizing Russia on MH17 tragedy that killed 298 civilians. The reason being, a US navy warship in 1988 shot down an Iranian Jetliner killing all 290 civilians on board and later went on to host the world cup in 1994 (USA 94). The United States government refused to apologize for that tragedy. Critiques have long said the United States does not have the moral rights to press sanctions in this case.
Meanwhile plans are far underway in Russia to welcome the world in 2018 for the beautiful game. Below are the cities in Russia hosting the 32 nations that will qualify for the prestigious event.
