Martin Uggla: There are parallels between FIFA scandal and Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk

Corruption in IIHF might have influenced the decision on holding the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk.

Swedish human rights defenders and Östgruppen head Martin Uggla said it in an interview with charter97.org. He insisted on cancelling the championship in Minsk and was detained by secret services at the airport in Minsk ahead of the event.

“Of course, I don't know details about the current situation in the International Ice Hockey Federation, but a decision on holding the world championship in one or another country can always be influenced by corruption schemes,” Martin Uggla said. “It seems that recent reports about corruption in FIFA do not shock anyone. A thorough investigation is required once such suspicions appear. Of course, there are parallels between the current football scandal and the questions that appeared ahead of the Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk. Both the International Ice Hockey Federation and FIFA lack transparency, so it is hard to control how decisions are made and real reasons behind them.”

The human rights defender supports the idea to move the 2018 FIFA World Cup from Russia to another country.

“I think the tournament should be cancelled for the same reasons that last year's ice hockey championship in Minsk should not have been allowed,” he said. “These events are aimed at raising popularity of the authoritarian regimes. They are used for propaganda. The corruption scandal is one more reason to move the championship.

We need to take into account the importance of such events for authoritarian regimes. They spend huge money to win the right to host such events. It's hard to say whether the money is spent on, for example, advertising or on bribes. At the same time, citizens of Belarus and Russia do not have an opportunity to take part in making a decision on holding such tournaments. It is made by the authorities. They also decide to allocate huge money on such campaigns. It is easier for authoritarian rulers to win the right on holding international tournaments.”

FIFA top officials were arrested by Swiss authorities on May 27, ahead of the FIFA congress. Vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo, former member of the Executive Committee Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Nicolás Leoz were arrested on the US request. A criminal case against them was launched. The officials are suspected of money laundering and accepting bribes in connection with the selection of World Cup hosts.

Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected at the congress as FIFA's president for a fifth term, had to resign some days later.