Intro:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (28th May) accused the United States of meddling in FIFA's affairs and hinted that it was part of an attempt to take the 2018 World Cup away from his country.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

"I have no doubts whatsoever that this is a clear attempt to prevent the re-election of Mr Blatter to the post of FIFA president. This is the most cross violation of the principle of the functioning of international organisations."

SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

"This doesn't concern us. But, naturally, I have an opinion of my own on this issue. As far as we know, the election for the FIFA president was due to take place on Friday and Mr Blatter had and still has a very good chance of being re-elected. We are aware of the pressure that was applied to him with a view to preventing the 2018 World Cup from being held in Russia. We know his position has nothing to do with any so-called 'special relation' between FIFA and Russia. His view on this has always been extremely clear: sports and politics should be separate."

SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

"As for the arrests made, it all looks very strange, to say the least. The arrests were made per the request of the Americans, on charges of corruption but by whom? - international officials. One can assume that some of them might have violated some rules - I don't know - but what is clear is that the United States has nothing to do with this. These officials are not US citizens, and if something untoward happened, it didn't happen on the territory of the United States, and the USA has nothing to do with this. This clearly is yet another attempt by the US to spread its jurisdiction to other countries."