fifa president sepp blatter announces russia as the host of the 2018 world cup because of its role in the ukraine crisis and occupation of crimea .
allowing russia to host the world cup inappropriately bolsters the prestige of the -lrb- russian president vladimir -rrb- putin regime at a time when it should be condemned and provides economic relief at a time when much of the international community is imposing economic sanctions , ' the senators wrote to fifa president sepp blatter that