MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Britain's Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Russia should not host the 2018 World Cup, joining similar calls by other leaders after the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in Ukraine, Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
"You can't have this - the beautiful game - marred by the ugly aggression of Russia on the Russian Ukrainian border," Clegg told the newspaper.
"Not only would Vladimir Putin exploit it, I think it would make the rest of the world look so weak and so insincere about our protestations about Vladimir Putin's behavior if we're not prepared to pull the plug," the deputy prime minister added.
The statement followed an earlier call by politicians from Germany, this year's winner of the world's top football competition, which took place in Brazil. FIFA denied the idea.
On Saturday, the European Union extended sanctions against another 15 Russian officials, as well as representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. The new round of limitations followed the MH17 crash, which killed 298 people, in Ukraine 10 days ago. The European Commission intends to discuss legislative proposals on sectoral sanctions against Russia on Monday.
The EU and the United States say the independence supporters, occupying the east of Ukraine, shot down the plane. They accuse Russia of helping the militia with weapons and training. Ukrainian authorities claim the plane was shot down by independence supporters, whereas the latter say they do not have necessary equipment to hit a target flying this high.
