Britain's 'spy scandal' World Cup revenge

Tit for tat

Katia Zatuliveter faces deportation after being detained in London on Thursday. Katia  has been linked to British Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock, who denied that his Russian assistant was a spy.


“If the English had not received a slap in the face in the elections for the 2018 World Cup, there would have been no spy scandal,” commented the  staunchly pro-government Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

“The proof is zero, otherwise a court, rather than deportation would have awaited the Russian girl. All this looks like a petty act of revenge on Russia,” the daily  added. “Gentlemen! This is not sporting.”

England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup, awarded to Russia on Thursday, ended in humiliation after it won just two of 22 FIFA executive committee votes leaving many questioning the voting process.

The pro-Kremlin Moskovsky Komsomolets daily described Zatuliveter, 25, as a “sex bomb” and compared her to the glamourous Anna Chapman who was expelled from the United States along with nine other Russian “sleeper” spies this summer.

“It seems the British were offended that Anna Chapman was working in the United States and not in Britain,” it wrote.

“And now they have a chance to catch up on what they missed,” the daily noted.