(ATR) Veteran U.S. Senator John McCain says that the host of the 2018 World Cup should be "reconsidered."
McCain, a presidential candidate from 2008, would not call for a boycott, but said discussions need to take place to determine if Russia is a suitable host.
Russia has come under fire recently for funding rebels in eastern Ukraine aimed at destabilizing that area of the country. Russia currently claims sovereignty over the territory of Crimea despite limited international recognition.
"I’d like to see the United States and others — say, the British perhaps and other countries — raise the issue in ordinary meetings, periodic meetings that they have. Say, ‘We need to discuss this issue,’" McCain told ESPN.
"It absolutely should be reconsidered, but I would hasten to add that a unilateral decision by the United States would not bode well."
McCain also has support from Democratic senators as well. Senator Chris Murphy, who sits on the Senate Foreign Affairs committee with McCain, echoed McCain’s sentiments, saying Russia should not be "rewarded" for its actions Wednesday.
"In the face of a downed airliner, in the face of crippling sanctions from the European Union, Putin thumbs his nose at the international community," Murphy said.
"I’m not sure how you reward this guy and his government with a major, international competition."
Written by Aaron Bauer
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
