Sepp Blatter arrived at his hotel in Moscow on Tuesday with plans to attend two matches this week.GETTY IMAGES
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to watch two World Cup games "as a guest" of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his spokesperson said, according to ESPN.com. Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, will attend the game between Portugal and Morocco at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday, then travel to St. Petersburg to watch Brazil face Costa Rica at the Krestovsky Stadium. Blatter said that he was in Moscow "to enjoy the World Cup." He walked into a hotel lobby in central Moscow and spoke briefly to reporters before he was surrounded by football fans "who wanted to shake his hand and take selfies alongside him." He is serving a six-year ban for "unethical conduct" after the organization was "rocked by a global corruption scandal" in '15 (ESPN.com, 6/19). REUTERS' Simon Evans reported his appearance at the World Cup in Russia is "potentially embarrassing" for FIFA and President Gianni Infantino, who "promised to draw a line" under FIFA's corruption problems and clean up the organization (REUTERS, 6/19).
