FIFA's Audit and Compliance committee head Domenico Scala said Russia and Qatar could lose the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup, respectively, if bribery is found in the bidding process.
"If evidence should emerge that the awards to Qatar and Russia only came about thanks to bought votes then the awards could be invalidated," Scala told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung on Sunday, according to Reuters. "This evidence has not yet been brought forth," he added.
Swiss authorities are investigating alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup-hosting votes, reported DW. Both Russia and Qatar have previously denied any wrongdoing in bidding process.
"FIFA is cooperating with investigations that it very much hopes will shed light on the true facts and looks forward to the clarity that these investigations are intended to bring," a FIFA spokeswoman told The Independent after the newspaper approached international organization for comments.
Russia won 2018 World Cup-hosting rights after defeating combined bids from Holland/Belgium, Spain/Portugal and a bid from England, while Qatar was surprisingly the 2022 winner, defeating the likes of the United States, Australia and Japan, according to ESPN.
The FIFA bribery scandal, which started with the arrests of seven FIFA officials, has exposed the world football governing body. U.S. prosecutors have charged 14 people, including seven FIFA senior officials who are alleged to have accepted bribes estimated at more than $150 million over a 24-year period, BBC reported.
Following the emergence of the scandal, FIFA President Sepp Blatter stepped down just a few days after he was re-elected for his fifth term.
A former FIFA office bearer Chuck Blazer revealed that he and other FIFA officials took bribes totalling $10 million for South Africa to host 2010 World Cup.
FIFA earlier had issued a clarification over $10 million bribe. "Neither the secretary general Jérôme Valcke nor any other member of Fifa's senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the project," FIFA said, according to The Guardian.
