As with the 2014 Winter Olympics, the choice of Russia as host of the 2018 FIFA World Cup was challenged. Controversial issues included the level of racism in Russian football and the discrimination against LGBT people in wider Russian society. The Russo-Ukrainian war also caused calls for the tournament to be moved, particularly following the annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in the war in Donbas. The then FIFA President Sepp Blatter declined requests for the tournament to be moved.

The 2015 allegations and criminal investigations of corruption, including a Swiss inquiry into the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup, intensified the public discussion of the appropriateness of Russia as the World Cup venue. In late May 2015, Russia's president Vladimir Putin said that he viewed the corruption investigations as an attempt by the U.S. to oust Sepp Blatter from his post as punishment for his support of Russia as host for the 2018 World Cup.

Allegations of corruption

The English FA, which competed against Russia to host the tournament, was not satisfied by the 42 page summary released by FIFA, in November 2014, of the 350 page Garcia Report, which cleared both Russia and Qatar of corruption in the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FA Chairman Greg Dyke called for a re-investigation of the claims, while his predecessor David Bernstein called on all UEFA nations to boycott the two tournaments.

Reinhard Rauball, President of the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), called on UEFA to secede from FIFA unless the corruption investigation was released in full.

Anatoly Vorobyov said "We have enough disciplinary measures which are laid out in our regulations. On the other hand, perhaps they need to be used more strictly".

In an interview published on 7 June 2015, Domenico Scala, the head of FIFA's Audit And Compliance Committee, stated that "should there be evidence that the awards to Qatar and Russia came only because of bought votes, then the awards could be cancelled".

Russo-Ukrainian war

Crimea

The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014 led to several British and American politicians calling on FIFA to overturn its decision of hosting the 2018 World Cup in Russia — British Shadow Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham said that football's governing body should reconsider,"Fifa urged to rethink staging 2018 World Cup in Russia". Bbc.com, 2014-03-21. Retrieved 17 April 2014. while two American Republican senators, Dan Coats and Mark Kirk, wrote a joint letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter saying Russia should not only be prevented from hosting a World Cup but also be banned from participating in it, bringing up the precedent of Yugoslavia being banned from Euro '92 and the 1994 World Cup as course of action to be followed in this case and proclaiming equivalence between Russia hosting the Cup with the appeasement of the Nazis and Adolf Hitler in the 1930s before World War II.Winter, Stuart (2014-03-23): "US calls for Fifa to drop Russia from hosting World Cup in 2018". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2014. In March 2014 Blatter declined their request and responded by saying: "The World Cup has been given and voted to Russia and we are going forward with our work"."Sepp Blatter: Russia will host 2018 World Cup despite Crimea". Bbc.com, 2014-03-21. Retrieved 17 April 2014.

Deployment of troops in Eastern Ukraine

Following several reports of direct military involvement of Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine, European diplomats revealed on 29 August 2014 that British Prime Minister David Cameron was working for Russia to be stripped of its hosting of the World Cup, as part of an extended sanctions package.Waterfield, Bruno (2014-08-29):"Ukraine crisis: Britain wants Russia stripped of right to host World Cup 2018". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2014. Some days later it was revealed that this was on the list of proposals for extended EU sanctions against Russia. However, no immediate action was taken due to the fact that the proposal was made nearly four years before the tournament."EU says boycott of Russia's 2018 World Cup 'possible'". DW.de, 2014-09-03. Retrieved 8 October 2014.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

In July 2014, after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down, Western leaders blamed Russia and there were again calls for the tournament to be moved. Michael Fuchs, a parliamentarian in the German government, stated his belief that moving the tournament would have more impact than sanctions on Russia. The German FA (DFB) did not comment on the issue, although its Dutch counterpart (KNVB), representing the country with the most victims in the disaster, declared that such discussion should wait until the investigation of the accident.

Nick Clegg, the then–Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, also stated his belief that due to the crash Russia should be stripped of the World Cup. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, did not share this idea, but appreciated the concern. Sepp Blatter said that the tournament should be a "force for good".

Events after Russia winning to host the World Cup

Racism

After it was announced that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup, Dr Rafał Pankowski, a head of UEFA FARE Monitoring Centre, accused the Russian Football Union of downplaying racist chants in stadiums. In October 2013, after allegedly being racially abused by fans of the Russian club CSKA Moscow, Ivorian footballer Yaya Touré stated that black players might boycott the 2018 World Cup unless Russia tackles racism in football.

On 13 July 2014, when the next World Cup was handed to Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "President Blatter puts a lot of personal effort into addressing social issues, and we hope that the preparations for the World Cup in Russia will also contribute to tasks, such as fighting drugs, racism and other challenges we face today".

In March 2015, Anatoly Vorobyov, the general secretary of the Russian Football Union, said that "not everything is going smoothly" in the campaign to eliminate the "virus" of racism from Russian football before the tournament. Later that month, Vyacheslav Koloskov, a member of the Russian bid team and former Vice President of FIFA, said that too much is made of racism in Russia, and that monkey chanting is not racist.

LGBT activism

In response to discrimination against LGBT people in the country, a number of petitions circulated calling for FIFA to strip Russia of hosting rights. Thousands signed these petitions, including United States senators Mark Kirk and Dan Coats and gay rights activists Greg Louganis, Stephen Fry and George Takei.

On 14 June 2018 UK-based activist Peter Tatchell was detained in Moscow by local police while staging a protest against the treatment of LGBT individuals in Russia.

Ban on negative news reporting Russia's interior ministry ordered police not to provide negative news to the media during the World Cup and instead report only of solved crime cases to project a more positive image of the country. Russian police was instructed not to publish information about conducted raids or results of investigations into the crimes such as robberies and murders.

UK response, reception and the British media UK news media had repeatedly warned English football fans travelling to Russia of potential hooligan violence, anti-British hostility and racist intimidation. English fans who have travelled have said they received a warm welcome after arriving in Russia. The Independent reported that "Most of the English fans blamed the low attendance for a 2-1 win on what they described as alarmist press stories." Also Polish media reported on the friendly reception of Polish fans in Moscow and fears of repeated violence between Polish and Russian fans in Warsaw 2012 have not been met.

England's failed attempt to stage the 2018 World Cup The Daily Telegraph reported in June 2017 that the former Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge "were at a meeting during which a vote-swapping deal between England and South Korea was discussed, according to an official report ... At one point officials discussed the possibility of arranging a meeting with the Queen for one FIFA representative whose vote could have helped England.""Prince William and David Cameron caught up in Fifa corruption scandal ". The Daily Telegraph. 27 June 2017."Video: David Cameron and Prince William implicated in FIFA corruption probe". Belfast Telegraph. 28 June 2017.

Skripal poisoning and aftermath

On 14 March 2018, following the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in the United Kingdom, the British government announced that all official visits to the World Cup were suspended. No ministers or members of the Royal Family will attend matches or other ceremonies. The participation of the England team would not be affected. On 21 March, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused the Russian government of planning to use its hosting of the World Cup for propaganda, comparing it to Nazi Germany's use of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin for such purposes. Contrarily, however, he added that it would be unfair to ban the British football teams from competing. Russia denied the accusations and denounced Johnson's statements as "unacceptable and totally irresponsible" and "poisoned with venom of hate, unprofessionalism and boorishness".

United States sanctions against Iran

American company Nike stopped supplying Iran's FIFA World Cup squad members with football boots just days before their opening match in the World Cup due to the new United States sanctions against Iran. Iran team's head coach Carlos Queiroz criticized the decision.

Use of Cossacks against protesters "The new Cossacks are part of a broader movement of armed Russian nationalism," said Nikolay Mitrokhin, a senior research fellow at the University of Eastern Finland. "Most of them fought in the Donbas, and many of them took part in the occupation of Crimea. It would appear that the Kremlin is now thinking about using them in Moscow in the same way."

Don Cossacks, the volunteer paramilitary soldiers from Southern Russia who fought in Donbas during the Ukrainian conflict, were redeployed this time by the Kremlin to counter protesters and will be used to counter protesters of the World Cup.

"The new Cossacks were figures of fun, with their strange paraphernalia and dubious claims of historical lineage. But in Vladimir Putin's third term, as the Kremlin looked to create a nationalist, conservative ideology, they became influential. They began to receive significant state funding and political support."

During the World Cup Mexican homophobic chanting

During the Germany versus Mexico group stage match, Mexican fans chanted "puto" at German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer; "puto" is a homophobic slang for a male sex worker that Mexicans and other Latin American countries have frequently used to taunt opposing teams. The origins of the insults against Neuer have been attributed to an incorrect Spanish translation of his statement "it would be good if a professional football player came out because it would help others to do the same".

The FIFA disciplinary committee fined the Mexican Football Federation 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,400) for the homophobic chants. The Mexican Football Federation was earlier sanctioned 12 times including 10 fines for anti-gay slurs during its World Cup qualifying campaign. Mexico striker Javier Hernández posted on Instagram, "To all Mexican fans in the stadiums, don't shout 'pu--'. Let's not risk another sanction."

Swiss celebrations against Serbia