After Eric Holder's understudy Loretta Lynch announced a 47-count corruption indictment against 14 individuals associated with FIFA Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he smelled a conspiracy, too.

Saying it was “odd” that America launched the probe when none of its citizens were involved (two actually do hold U.S. citizenship) and none of it took place on U.S. soil, Putin suggested that the whole thing was an attempt by America to take the 2018 World Cup away from Mother Russia.  

AP reports:

Putin said even if "someone has done something wrong," Russia "has nothing to do with it." He then tried to portray the probe as a U.S. attempt to go after dissenters, likening the case to the persecution of whistleblowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.

"Our American counterparts, unfortunately, are using the same methods to reach their goals and illegally persecute people. I don't rule out that this is the case in relation to FIFA," Putin said. "I have no doubt that this is yet another evident attempt to derail Mr. Blatter's re-election as FIFA president. We are aware of the pressure that he was subjected to in relation to Russia holding the 2018 World Cup."

Despite the contentious words from Putin, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko (who also serves as a FIFA executive committee member) said Wednesday in Zurich that Russia welcomes the FIFA investigation, saying his country has "nothing to hide."

Along with the Justice Department's indictment, a separate investigation has been launched by Swiss prosecutors concerning the organization's awarding of the World Cup tournament to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

Seven of the 14 accused were arrested by Swiss authorities in Zurich Wednesday.