FIFA defended Russia's right to host the World Cup amid a series of doping scandals, saying today that there is no sign of "widespread" drug use in Russian soccer. Russia has been stripped of dozens of Olympic medals for doping and cover-ups, including tampering with samples. Soccer is among the sports where positive tests were apparently covered up, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation last year. "From the information we have, we cannot talk about widespread doping in football in Russia," FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura said today, three days before FIFA hosts the World Cup draw at the Kremlin.

Fatma Samoura, FIFA Secretary General, attends the unveiling of the official poster for the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Moscow's Krasnaya Presnya metro depot on November 28, 2017. Pic/AFP