Moscow, March 30 (IANS): A call to boycott the 2018 football World Cup is part of a campaign to contain Russia, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said.
The Russian diplomat on Wednesday commented on a statement by Deputy Chairman of the German ruling CDU/CSU party Michael Fuchs who said earlier that "a country where fundamental civil rights are not observed must not in principle host any world championships", reports Tass news agency.
"The proposal to boycott the World Football Championship in Russia originated not after ‘participants in an unauthorised rally in Moscow were detained," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook.
"This is part of a campaign, a global strategy developed by Western analysts in the context of the policy of containing Russia. And the Russian side, which has the relevant data at hand, warned about this," she said.