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THE LATEST: 2018 World Cup host Vladimir Putin congratulates Blatter on 5th term as FIFA chief

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this May 28, 2015 file-pool photo,Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. When President Barack Obama and other world leaders gather in Germany next week, Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be left off the guest list, part of his punishment for more than a year of alleged aggression in Ukraine. (Sergei Karpukhin/File-Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

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    FIFA president Sepp Blatter applauds after his re-election during the 65th FIFA Congress held at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 29, 2015. Blatter has been re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term, chosen to lead world soccer despite separate U.S. and Swiss criminal investigations into corruption. The 209 FIFA member federations gave the 79-year-old Blatter another four-year term on Friday after Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan conceded defeat after losing 133-73 in the first round. (Walter Bieri/Keystone via AP) (The Associated Press)

ZURICH – The latest developments concerning FIFA:

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10:55 a.m. (0855 GMT, 4:55 a.m. EDT)

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin, host of the 2018 World Cup, has sent a telegram to Sepp Blatter congratulating him on winning a fifth term at the helm of FIFA.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the telegram on Saturday after Blatter, 79, was re-elected Friday to lead the world soccer body despite strong opposition to his tenure from other nations in Europe.

The Kremlin said Putin "expressed confidence that experience, professionalism and high authority will help Blatter and further promote the expansion of the geography and popularity of football in the whole world. Putin emphasized that Russia is interested in and ready for collaboration with FIFA in general and in the preparations" for the 2018 World Cup.

Last week, Swiss authorities announced a criminal investigation into how FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.