Всемирный ногомяч

Разве же я мог не высказаться по теме моего любимого ногомяча?
...Meanwhile, the Soviet Union's opponents took full advantage of that blunder. For instance, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA)  declares political and state non-interference in sports matters as one of its cornerstone principles. This meant that in 1984, just before the crucial FIFA vote, the Soviet Union demonstrated that it did not follow this principle due to its boycott. Therefore, unsurprisingly, the Soviet bid for the World Cup was defeated by Italy, eleven votes against five. Fast forward thirty years and the global governing soccer body confirmed that this principle is supreme—despite  many calls to remove the tournament from Russia for political reasons, FIFA seemed never to consider such move seriously. The critics can come up with many political reasons to punish Russia, however, from the standpoint of organizing a high-quality global soccer fest—FIFA's primary concern—Russia has a lot to offer as a decent host...
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