Suspended outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter claims an agreement was in place to take the 2018 World Cup to Russia before there was even a vote.
He told a Russian news agency the 2022 tournament was lined up to go to the USA, until UEFA boss Michel Platini changed his backing to Qatar, who eventually won the bid.
"It was agreed that we go to Russia because it's never been in Russia, eastern Europe, and for 2022 we go back to America," he said.
Blatter did not detail who an agreement had been made with.
But it is a controversial statement as England and joint bids by Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium were the countries to spend millions of pounds on bidding campaigns.
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