Russia's Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Wednesday that the arrests of officials from football's world governing body FIFA were not linked to Russia's successful bid for the 2018 World Cup, the TASS news agency reported.
Six officials, including some high-ranking members of FIFA, were arrested by Swiss police in Zurich early Wednesday and detained pending extradition to the United States.
The arrests were made by plain-clothed police shortly after dawn at a plush Zurich hotel where FIFA officials are staying ahead of this week's FIFA presidential election.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) did not identify which officials were arrested but confirmed that FIFA president Sepp Blatter was not among them.
