“I think he’s every bar’s MVP,” Hickey, the longtime owner texted me Tuesday.

This is a story about foot traffic. And footie traffic. See, McGregor Square, which sits adjacent to the Rockies and Coors Field and is owned by the Monfort family, had been hosting World Cup watch parties in LoDo for free.

Last week, that … changed. McGregor Square is now instituting an admission charge for patrons to check out United States and Mexico matches, including Wednesday’s Mexico-Czechia tussle and Thursday’s U.S.-Turkey showdown. It costs $23.18 per head, including $3.18 in fees.

England-Ghana? Free. Panama-Croatia? Free. Norway-France? Free.

Capitalism 1, Community nil.

I asked Hickey if he had considered adding a cover charge whenever the Yanks or El Tri happen to air on TV. He laughed.

“Not even slightly,” Hickey replied. “This isn’t about the almighty dollar.

“It’s about creating an atmosphere. It’s about creating a culture that we’ve spent a long time (cultivating). It’s not about making a couple extra grand.”

Blasphemer! FIFA, the World Cup’s notoriously shady organizers, has made every decision regarding the 2026 Cup with dollar signs in its eye sockets. Does FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the patron saint of boot-licking opportunists, I asked Hickey, know that The Celtic dares to call itself “soccer bar?” I mean, what did you say to yourself when McGregor Square tacked on a fee in order for fans to watch its sexiest matches?

“I was delighted,” Hickey quipped, chortling beneath his native Irish brogue. “More people coming our way.”

Safety is the Monforts’ story here, and they’re sticking to it. McGregor Square officials on Tuesday emailed me this statement:

“The move to ticketing for this round was made in direct response to the large crowds that we saw at McGregor Square for the U.S. and Mexico games over the first weekend. Ticketing allows us to safely manage attendance and provide the best possible fan experience. We have brought in additional security personnel, Denver Police, ticketing staff, fencing, and other event operations measures, including bag screening, to help us safely and comfortably host thousands of guests in the plaza.”

Which you understand. Appreciate, even. If crowd capacity is one of McGregor Square’s primary concerns, couldn’t U.S. and Mexico matches be ticketed events at a friendlier price point? The CU Buffs, for example, It can be done.

“McGregor Square is a metaphor for what happens every World Cup cycle when corporate America and local bars in Denver realize, ‘Oh, wait, soccer is popular now, we can monetize it,'”  offered Dave Wegner, former president of the Rapids’ Centennial 38 supporters’ group. “The fact they’re charging is kind of insulting to soccer fans who’ve been there a while. And it just goes to show that they underestimated how big a deal this is.”

I posed the same questions I had for Hickey to Kevin Tuohy, , another amazing downtown watering hole for footie fans. And one that’s got McGregor Square’s crowd concerns, times a thousand.

The Bulldog’s not a hole-in-the-wall, per se. But it’s darned close. The snug soccer bar has a capacity of just 66. Tuohy got permission to expand their patio out front to accommodate another 130-ish or so outdoors, which required additional screens, chairs, tables, et cetera.

This is America, baby — land of the free, home of the brave, and inventor of “dynamic pricing.” The latter says you charge more for the Dodgers than, say, the Marlins, because ChatGPT and the invisible hand of the marketplace told you to.

Only, like Hickey, Tuohy won’t.

“We don’t think about really raising prices,” Tuohy replied. “Because part of our ethos is to be a neighborhood bar that has good prices, is a place where you can go to and get a beer or a shot or something for a reasonable price. That’s not something that enters into our thoughts, just because we want to be that bar that has the affordable pint of Guinness, the affordable shot of Jack Daniels.”

Bulldog 4, McGregor Square nil.

“I mean, honestly, (when they did it), I thought, ‘You know, it, it can only benefit us,'” Tuohy mused. “I said, ‘You know, they want to get greedy and do that. They can do that all they want.’

“It’s one thing when it’s free and they’re still charging stadium prices for beverages for beers and whatnot. Now that they’re going to charge that cover, it just makes it harder and harder for anybody to go out as a group or if you want to bring your family out to McGregor Square.

“It seemed like one of their selling points might have been, ‘You could bring the family out here.’ But who wants to bring the family out if it’s going to cost them the same amount as it is to go to a Broncos game or something like that?”

I did the math over at the Square with Mike Corbett of Highlands Ranch, who’s got two soccer-loving kids and a wife who humors all three of them.

Corbett attended Nuggets watch parties at McGregor Square in 2023 during the NBA Finals, soaking in the tribal joy with thousands of his closest friends. For the Corbett clan, the U.S.-Turkey clash is $23.18 per person, times four, so…

“That would be $92.72,” Corbett said, shaking his head. “Plus everything else.”

Hard backheel pass.

“We’d mentioned coming down (for the U.S. matches) and then my wife’s like, ‘No, they’re charging,'” Corbett continued. “So I was like, ‘I’m not (going) down here for that.’ Because you have to pay for parking somewhere, too. Total money grab, for sure.”

“Which is very FIFA,” I said.

“It seems so Rockies,” Corbett countered. “It’s so Monfort … It’s frustrating because they built (the Square) for all this (gathering) to happen. Now you’re going to charge people to come into it? It’s like, ‘Come on, man.'”

MVP = Mad, Vindictive Pricing?

“Maybe Dick Monfort,” Wegner cracked, “is running for Infantino’s job.”

Hickey plans to keep the hard line in prices, even if the crowds start drinking him dry. What the Monforts see as a line on a spreadsheet, the crew at The Celtic sees as a marketing opportunity. A chance to grow a community.

“We had about 50 Norwegians (last weekend) doing the rowing thing on the floor,” he said. “We had a bunch of Vikings in for Sweden, about 60-70, so that was a pretty good showing.”

For Mexico matches, Hickey brought in a Mariachi band. For Scotland, he hired a piper. The computers project the two countries could very well meet in the knockout round if the Tartan Army don’t get their kilts torched by Brazil on Wednesday.

“I’ll tell you, that would be a lot of fun,” Hickey chuckled. “I’d have to order extra beer.”

Sean Keeler: Your humble colleague is a footie fan, full-stop, no apologies. Got bitten by the bug during USA ’94. Partied with Nigerian fans in Athens, Ga., as we watched the Super Eagles upset Argentina to win the men’s soccer gold in ’96. Denver is an amazing, fun, vibrant soccer town. FIFA? FIFA is as crooked as the Serpents Trail, my friend. When Colorado whiffed on its penalty kick with footie bigwigs during the bid process a few years back, I raged. “What does Kansas City have that Denver doesn’t?” I asked. Rooms that FIFA had booked in blocks — only to cancel at the last minute. Oh, and without any cancellation fees on the back end for KC to recoup. Because Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s fawning, making-up-trophies-to-give-world-leaders president? That’s how he rolls, baby.

World Cup 2026: Matches, scores, brackets, results and more

Renck: The running joke is if you want to watch a good shakedown, skip the mob movies and watch documentaries on how the IOC and FIFA choose host cities. The demands are outrageous and, in some cases, criminal. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 14 football executives for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. When Denver submitted its bid, it made a final offer. FIFA wanted assurances the city would cover all cost overruns, and make everything whole. So, I am not going to crush Denver for drawing a line in the sand. The reality is the timing stunk. Everyone knows how much Denver loves soccer (See Denver Summit FC and Lionel Messi appearance). But the city needed a savior in the Broncos owners, and the bid was submitted before the Walton-Penner group took over. Who knows if they would have stepped up to fill in the gaps like soccer AFLAC. History says they would have. In the absence of that help, Denver showed proper restraint, even if watching right now hurts.

Keeler: The Denver chapter might have had a different ending if Carrie Walton-Penner and Greg Penner were in the picture to soak up cost overruns. I don't blame the city for balking, though, given what's come out over the last 8-12 months. be built over Soldier Field -- and that the locals were on the hook to pay for it. The state of Missouri reportedly forked over $78 million and the state of Kansas $28 million for infrastructure, security, etc. No wonder Colorado took a pass.

Renck: It is OK to not get everything you want. We have become spoiled because of Final Fours, high-profile soccer exhibitions and having four major sports teams that we believe Denver should host anything of merit out of default. If it were just on private donations, it would be easier to have a problem with missing out. But at the time of the bid, the city did not have its Clark Hunt or Robert Kraft to push it through. Given the financial issues facing Denver, it would be impossible to rationalize the city increasing taxes to cover the open-ended costs. There is no doubt Denver deserves to host the World Cup. But there is also no shame in showing common sense, if not cents, and waiting to go all out to host the Women's World Cup in 2031.

Keeler: And it will. Or at least, it should. Summit FC got on a roll after May 9, and the powers behind the club want to keep those good vibes going. Did you see the way Can you imagine the juice those kind of travelers would give Coors Field during another sad Rockies summer? Denver deserves to walk on world soccer's biggest catwalks. But not by having to sell its shirt first.

Official-looking flyers have circulated on social media describing cultural expectations for fans attending the World Cup in Qatar. Some include rules for women’s attire: Shoulders and knees must be covered.

Problem is, it����ap bogus.

While the local organizing committee suggests that fans “respect the culture,” no one will be detained or barred from games in Qatar because of clothing choices. But persistent rumors swirling around appropriate garb and modesty at soccer’s biggest tournament have also drawn attention to the country’s record on equality.

Rothna Begum, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, has studied Qatar’s male guardianship rules and women’s rights in the conservative country.

“There isn’t anyone is going to go around arresting you for this because there isn’t an official dress code,” Begum said. “There isn’t a compulsory dress code and you can’t get sanctioned for it. It����ap just a social restriction, a social tradition.”

The local organizing committee includes a section on cultural awareness in its fan guide.

“People can generally wear their clothing of choice. Shoulders and knees should be covered when visiting public places like museums and other government buildings,” it said.

The phrase “public places” is up to interpretation.

The American Outlaws, the U.S. national team’s supporters’ group, produced its own fan guide.

“Fans can wear shorts and short sleeve shirts, and women are not required to cover their heads or faces. However, there are many buildings that require both men and women to cover their shoulders and knees before entering, including museums, shopping centers, and some restaurants,” the guide says. “We recommend that fans carry some pants and/or a top with sleeves if they plan on entering any buildings, as they may be asked to put them on.

“In the stadiums, men and women will be required to wear tops. People will not be permitted to go shirtless during matches or in public settings.”

The first World Cup in the Middle East comes at a time when there is international attention on the treatment of women in Iran. The nation, which sits across the Persian Gulf from Qatar, has been rocked by anti-hijab protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while being held by morality police for allegedly violating the country’s compulsory dress code for women. Activists have called for Iran to be expelled from the World Cup.

With Islam encouraging female modesty, most Qatari women wear headscarves and a loose cloak known as the abaya.

Begum, who wrote about Qatar and its treatment of women in a 2021 report for Human Rights Watch, said that while women have made progress in Qatar, they still face discrimination in almost every facet of their lives. Women must get permission from male guardians to marry, pursue higher education and work at certain jobs. Guardians can bar women under 25 from traveling abroad.

It����ap a conservative culture that has little tolerance for dissent among its own citizens, she said.

“There are no independent women’s rights organizations and that����ap partly because the authorities have laws that make it difficult for you to set up associations that are in any way deemed political. You are not allowed,” Begum said. “Women find it difficult to express or demand their rights offline or even online.”

That����ap one of the reasons critics are questioning FIFA for awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Observers certainly noticed when retired American soccer star Carli Lloyd wore a long, high-collared dress with long sleeves for the World Cup draw earlier this year.

A letter recently circulated among teams from FIFA president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura asked nations not to bring political or ideological issues into the tournament.

“Please,” they wrote, “let����ap now focus on the football.”

___

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FIFPRO and the organization representing the world’s soccer leagues — the World Leagues Forum — jointly wrote to FIFA seeking permission for Russia-based players to terminate their contracts. They have been told that players can only temporarily join another club until June 30 but must then return to Russia.

A final decision is set to be taken by the FIFA Bureau, which features the presidents of the six regional confederations.

After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, FIFA suspended the country from international soccer games last week but has yet to suspend its soccer federation or officials.

But the umbrella organization representing European leagues has already expelled Russia’s top leagues as members.

There are hundreds of foreign players in Russia who would typically not be able to leave their clubs or sign for new ones outside the two transfer trading periods in the year. FIFPRO general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann and WLF counterpart Jerome Perlemuter wrote to FIFA last week to raise the issue of allowing the players to continue their careers in another country.

“These foreign players may rightfully consider that they are not willing to represent any longer a Russian team,” Baer-Hoffmann and Perlemuter wrote to FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, “and should be able to immediately terminate their contract with their employer without facing any sanction whatsoever from international bodies and to be registered in a new club without being restricted by transfer period regulations.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia staged the 2018 World Cup. FIFA has declined to respond to questions from The Associated Press in detail about Russia over the last week or whether Infantino has been in contact with Putin, who awarded him Russia’s Order of Friendship medal.

Russian clubs are already seeing foreigners leave, including two German coaches. Daniel Farke quit FC Krasnodar after seven weeks in the job and Markus Gisdol left Lokomotiv Moscow.

Ukraine’s league has been suspended with war engulfing the country.

The 85-year-old Blatter and 66-year-old Platini now face a trial at federal criminal court in Bellinzona. They could be jailed for several years if found guilty, though Swiss cases often take years to reach a conclusion.

“This payment damaged FIFA’s assets and unlawfully enriched Platini,” Swiss federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The case was opened in September 2015 and ousted Blatter ahead of schedule as FIFA president. It also ended Platini’s campaign to succeed his former mentor.

It centers on Platini’s written request to FIFA in January 2011 to be paid backdated additional salary for working as a presidential adviser in Blatter’s first term, from 1998-2002.

Blatter told FIFA to make the payment within weeks. He was preparing to campaign for re-election in a contest against Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar, where Platini’s influence with European voters was seen as a key factor.

“The evidence gathered by the (attorney general’s office) has corroborated that this payment to Platini was made without a legal basis,” prosecutors said.

Both Blatter and Platini have long denied wrongdoing and cited a verbal agreement they had made, now more than 20 years ago, for the money to be paid.

Blatter has been charged with fraud, mismanagement, misappropriation of FIFA funds and forgery of a document. Platini has been charged with fraud, misappropriation, forgery and as an accomplice to Blatter’s alleged mismanagement.

Fraud and forgery charges can be punished with jail sentences of up to five years.

“I view the proceedings at the federal criminal court with optimism — and hope that, with this, this story will come to an end and all the facts will be worked through cleanly,” Blatter said in a statement.

Platini, was not placed under formal investigation until last year, and months later the more serious allegation of fraud was included against both men.

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner, who was captain of his national team when France won the European Championship in 1984, said Tuesday he was “perfectly confident and calm” about the outcome.

“I fully contest these unfounded and unfair accusations,” Platini said in a statement.

Platini has long said, and Blatter repeated Tuesday, that he declared the payment and paid taxes on it in Switzerland.

Prosecutors had opened criminal proceedings against Blatter ahead of a police raid at FIFA headquarters in Zurich on the day he and Platini attended a meeting of the soccer body’s executive committee.

That came four months after a sweeping U.S. Department of Justice corruption investigation into world soccer was revealed with early-morning arrests of officials from the Americas at luxury hotels in Zurich in May 2015.

In the fallout of those hotel raids, and only days after being elected FIFA president for a fifth time, Blatter announced his plan to resign and call another vote to find a successor.

Platini had long been the expected FIFA heir but his campaign was derailed by the police visit to FIFA’s offices even though he was not yet a suspect.

The FIFA ethics committee soon suspended both men for several weeks before banning each for six years.

Platini’s ban was later reduced to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on appeal, and he was cleared to return to soccer duty in October 2019. He had been linked to seeking a seat on the executive board of FIFPRO, the global group of soccer player unions.

Blatter has been in poor health and a final round of questioning by Swiss investigators was delayed until August.

After undergoing heart surgery last December, Blatter spent a week in an induced coma.

Blatter also faces a separate criminal proceeding related to authorizing a $1 million FIFA payment to Trinidad and Tobago in 2010 into the control of then-FIFA vice president Jack Warner. Two former FIFA officials are also suspects in that investigation.

The Swiss investigations of Blatter, and later Platini, were refocused after prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand joined the case following turmoil in the attorney general’s office. The former lead prosecutor, Olivier Thormann, left the federal office in late-2018 after being cleared of a complaint of misconduct in the investigation.

Hildbrand, who is from the same hometown as Blatter, was then brought on to the investigation team with the reputation of having led a previous high-profile case tied to FIFA: the 2001 financial collapse of World Cup marketing agency ISL. Blatter’s lawyers failed in court to have Hildbrand removed from the current case.

The attorney general who was overseeing FIFA investigations in Switzerland, Michael Lauber, resigned last year because of misconduct. He was found to have misled an internal investigation into his undeclared meetings with current FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Infantino was elected to lead FIFA in 2016 after stepping in to be UEFA’s emergency election candidate when Platini was suspended and then banned.

This story has been corrected to show that Michel Platini is 66 years old, not 65.

The letter was sent by the group of English, Spanish and Italian clubs to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin saying the Super League has already been underwritten by funding of 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from a financial institution.

Currently, teams have to qualify each year for the Champions League through their domestic leagues, but the Super League would lock in 15 places every season for the founding members. The seismic move to shake up the sport is partly engineered by the American owners of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, who also run franchises in closed U.S. leagues — a model they are trying to replicate in Europe.

UEFA warned the Super League clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, that legal action would be taken against them and said they would be barred from existing domestic competitions like the Spanish league, the Premier League and international competitions.

“We are concerned that FIFA and UEFA may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions,” the Super League clubs wrote to Infantino and Ceferin in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

“Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction, which would not only jeopardize the funding commitment under the Grant but, significantly, would be unlawful. For this reason, SLCo (Super League Company) has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the Competition in accordance with applicable laws.”

The courts were not named.

“It is our duty, as SLCo’s board members, to ensure that all reasonable actions available to protect the interests of the Competition and our stakeholders are duly taken, given the irreparable damage that would be suffered if, for any reason, we were deprived of the opportunity to form promptly the Competition and distribute the proceeds of the Grant,” the Super League letter continued.

The Super League intends to launch a 20-team competition with 15 founding members but only 12 have currently signed up. The others are Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham from England, Atletico Madrid from Spain, and AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy.

The breakaway was launched just as UEFA thought it had agreement on an expansion of the Champions League from 2024. Now, the same officials who backed the plans have decided to go it alone while claiming the existing competitions could remain — despite losing their most successful teams, including record 13-time European champion Real Madrid and six-time winner Liverpool.

“The Competition is to be played alongside existing domestic league and cup competitions, which are a key part of European football’s competitive fabric,” reads the Super League letter to Infantino and Ceferin. “We do not seek to replace the UEFA’s Champions League or the Europa League but to compete with and exist alongside those tournaments.”

___

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In the World Cup final, Horan can win a championship on her sport����ap biggest stage, while proudly representing Colorado.

“This has been everything a little girl has dreamt of,” Horan said Friday, with the undefeated U.S. women’s national team needing one more victory to capture soccer’s biggest prize for the fourth time.

Horan is 25 years old. She’s from up the street, born in Golden. Although she is an athletic contemporary nearly identical in age to a Rockies pitcher (Freeland) and Broncos running back (Lindsay), to say nothing of far more accomplished in her chosen field, Horan is nearly ignored in her home state.

Now, why do you suppose that would that be the case? Well, can you handle the truth? Could it be not only because soccer isn’t held in nearly the same esteem as football and baseball, but also because Horan is well … you know … a girl?

That dismissive attitude toward Horan’s achievements on the pitch is a bunch of sexist hooey. As the spouse and father of strong women, it irks me.

But even at the news organization where I work, I’m reminded our commitment to recognizing the excellence of women hitting a tennis ball, running track at the Olympics or scoring goals is nowhere near as great as to the fawning praise we routinely offer guys who surrender home runs in a Rockies uniform or get beat on the football field by the Kansas City Chiefs.

In the realm of athletics, it����ap amusing how dudes who operate the world, from the White House to FIFA headquarters, try to keep women in their place, whether it����ap with stern words of admonishment or a stubborn refusal to pay them what they’re worth.

And the women of the USWNT are having none it. That kick-down-doors and punch-the-glass-ceiling defiance is what you have to love about Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Horan, even more so than the respect demanded by this team’s ability to win six times by a cumulative score of 24-3 to reach the Cup final against the Netherlands.

Rapinoe has not only been the spark plug for her team, she has taken on everyone from U.S. president Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, demonstrating how both the LGBQT community and professional female soccer players must struggle and fight for every inch on every hill climbed.

Although Morgan is the loudest scorer in this tournament, perhaps the biggest noise about her performance resulted from her goal celebration against England, in which she rushed toward the sideline after the score and mimed sipping tea. Television commentator and notable old fogy Piers Morgan blasted the celebration as bordering on a declaration of war.

“There is some sort of double standard for females in sports, to feel like we have to be humble in our successes and have to celebrate, but not too much,” Morgan told reporters covering the World Cup in France.

“You see men celebrating all around the world in big tournaments, grabbing their sacks or whatever it is, and when I look at sipping a cup of tea, I’m a little taken aback and you have to kind of laugh about it.”

If she were excelling on the NFL field or in an NBA arena, the work Horan does for the USMNT would earn her toasts as a “glue guy.” Her work rate is relentless from box to box on the pitch, whether Horan is serving up the perfect cross for a header by Morgan that proved to be the decisive goal in the semifinal victory, or the Golden High alum is thwarting a foe’s attack by poke-checking away the ball at the defensive end.

But, of course, Horan faced criticism for cheering too loudly while walking through the stadium tunnel in the vicinity of an English player after the emotional victory that sent the USA to the championship game. In response, Horan sent a message of apology to Steph Houghton, captain of the English side.

That����ap all well and good. Let����ap hope good sportsmanship never dies.

But isn’t it about time female athletes stop apologizing for kicking butt and taking names?

The International Olympic Committee barred Russia and its sports leaders from the upcoming games in South Korea after its lead investigator concluded members of the Russian government concocted a doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games that “caused unprecedented damage to Olympism and to sports.”

Not welcome in Pyeongchang next year will be any sign of the Russian Olympic Committee or any member of its sports ministry, which was responsible for what investigators concluded was a top-to-bottom scheme of “manipulation and cheating” to ensure Russians could dope at the Olympics on their home turf and not get caught.

The IOC punishment did leave room for many Russians to compete under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia” or OAR. They would have to pass drug tests to prove they were clean and also did not benefit from the Sochi scheme.

If they win, the Olympic flag would be raised and the Olympic anthem played to honor their victories. That is, if Russian President Vladimir Putin allows them to go to the Feb. 9-25 games. He previously has said it would be humiliating for Russia to compete without its national symbols.

“An Olympic boycott has never achieved anything,” IOC President Thomas Bach said at a news conference. “Secondly, I don’t see any reason for a boycott by the Russian athletes because we allow the clean athletes there to participate.”

Alexander Zhukov, the Russian Olympic Committee president who also was suspended from his IOC membership, told TV reporters in Lausanne that one key was preserving the name “Russia” in the team name.

“They’ll be called Russian athletes and not some kind of neutrals … that’s very important,” Zhukov said.

If it was a victory to have the word “Russia” in the team name and invite some Russian athletes to compete, it came at a cost.

The IOC also suspended the Russian Olympic Committee until at least the start of the closing ceremony in South Korea.

In an embarrassment for Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup, the IOC also banned Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko from the Olympics for life.

Mutko heads the organizing committee of soccer’s next World Cup. As sports minister in 2014, he was deeply implicated in the Sochi doping plot by two IOC commissions and a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation.

“The IOC executive board has made its positon to the responsibility of Mr. Mutko very clear,” said Bach, who would not comment if it was appropriate for soccer’s governing body FIFA to continue working with an official who is also president of Russia’s soccer federation.

At the State Kremlin Palace on Dec. 1, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said at a joint news conference with Mutko that the IOC’s decision would not affect the World Cup.

That message was repeated Tuesday by FIFA in a statement which noted that its ethics and disciplinary committees could still open cases against Mutko and Russian soccer players implicated in doping cover-ups.

The IOC also imposed a fine of $15 million on the Russian Olympic Committee to pay for its two investigations into the case and toward future anti-doping work.

The sanctions could be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Any Russian athlete hoping to earn invitations to Pyeongchang will have to come through a stricter-than-usual testing regime and not have a doping violation on their record.

Invitations will be decided by an IOC panel chaired by former France Sports Minister Valerie Fourneyron.

The IOC also will bar Russian officials who were team leaders at Sochi, and coaches or medial staff who have been linked to doping athletes.

The CEO of the Sochi Olympics, Dmitry Chernyshenko, also had his place on an Olympic panel overseeing the 2022 Beijing Winter Games withdrawn by the IOC.

Russia has repeatedly refused to accept that a state-sponsored doping program existed. Such denials helped ensure bans on its track federation and anti-doping agency have not been lifted.

Instead, Russia blames Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Moscow and Sochi testing laboratories, as a rogue employee. It wants the scientist extradited from the United States, where he is a protected witness.

The executive board reached its decision Tuesday after a scheduled 4½-hour debate when it heard from a Russian delegation that included world figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva. The delegation was led by Zhukov, who was later suspended.

Two IOC commission leaders — appointed after WADA investigator Richard McLaren upheld Rodchenkov’s doping claims in July 2016 — also reported to the Olympic board.

The report by IOC-appointed investigator Samuel Schmid, the former president of Switzerland who was asked to verify an “institutional conspiracy,” included a 50-page sworn affidavit from Rodchenkov, who was also a key witness for McLaren and an IOC disciplinary commission.

The chairman of that disciplinary panel, Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, reported about prosecuting Russian athletes implicated in cheating at Sochi. By Monday, 25 Russians had been disqualified from the Sochi Games and banned from the Olympics for life, and 11 medals were stripped. One Russian was cleared.

Russia no longer leads the Sochi medals table. Even before the IOC reallocates the stripped medals, the United States has the most total medals and Norway has the most golds.

The banned Russian athletes have said they will appeal the Oswald judgments at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Any sanctions imposed by the IOC can also be challenged at CAS, and later at Switzerland’s supreme court, which can intervene if the legal process has been abused.

The United States, Canada, and Mexico are seeking an unchallenged path to co-hosting rights for the 2026 showpiece, if FIFA’s technical requirements are met by next year

“It’s an interesting, original proposal and we will discuss it tomorrow at the council and present the recommendation to the congress,” Infantino told The Associated Press on Monday in Bahrain at the start of a week of FIFA meetings.

There is expected to be no opposition to fast-tracking the plans at either the council or the congress, where FIFA’s entire 211-strong leadership has the final say.

By avoiding a contest, the process should be resistant to the allegations of wrongdoing that have tainted World Cup votes in recent decades. Past bribery has been exposed, in part, by American prosecutors but the U.S.-led bid is the undisputed favorite for the 2026 World Cup.

“We have seen in the past many questions marks around bidding processes,” Infantino said. “So we have to make sure we have to make sure this process is absolutely bulletproof.”

Under plans announced last month, the United States would stage 60 games, including every fixture from the quarterfinals, while Canada and Mexico would have 10 each.

Despite plans to share the tournament, there is a possibility the U.S. emerges as the solo host — like in 1994 — if its neighbors are considered unsuitable by the FIFA Congress in June 2018. The motion being presented to the congress on Thursday states that the North Americans want the hosting rights if “one or more” of the countries “satisfies the technical bid requirements.”

The North Americans are anticipating the go-ahead on Thursday from the FIFA Congress and have a staff and office space lined up, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the bid plans publicly ahead of FIFA’s approval.

Once that is given, the neighbors will then press ahead will determining which cities will host games. A possible venue for the final is the 80,000-seat stadium that is being built for the Los Angeles Rams NFL team in Inglewood, California, and is due to open in 2019.

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura highlighted the importance of assessing the “nitty gritty” of the hosting plans, even if the North Americans are given a clear path to the 2026 World Cup.

“What the administration is concerned about is that the bidding process is free, inclusive, and transparent,” Samoura said. “We will make sure that the highest level of standards are respected.”