FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani outlandishly claimed yesterday that Russia and Qatar winning the right to host the World Cup was “the best thing that happened in football.”

Montagliani, who took over as Concacaf president following the disgraced Jeffrey Webb, said that the sport would still be blighted by corruption if Russia and Qatar had not been chosen to host the next two editions of the tournament.

Russia will host it in 2018 and Qatar four years later, with both nations winning controversial votes almost six years ago.

However, since the two countries were announced, there have been calls to strip the two of the World Cup.

Thousands of migrant workers have been exploited building the infrastructure for the 2022 tournament in Qatar in conditions likened to those in “tenement slums in Victorian London” by general union GMB last year, while it has been well documented that some 1,200 migrant workers have lost their lives building the facilities.

Qatar’s Ministry of Health has estimated that there could be 7,000 deaths before a ball is kicked.

As for Russia, the ongoing problems surrounding racism and doping in sport have led to widespread calls for a change of venue. The violent clashes between Russian and English fans in France during Euro 2016 only highlighted why many believe the tournament cannot be staged in Russia.

Since the December 2010 votes, corruption has been exposed in the global game, with then-Fifa president Sepp Blatter among those now banned.

However, Montagliani firmly believes that football has cleaned up its act thanks to Russia and Qatar being announced as World Cup hosts.

He said: “If Russia and Qatar wouldn’t have got these World Cups, would we be in this situation now with an opportunity to clean the game?

“I think that was the starting point and the tipping point for certain things to happen.

“If England and the US had got the World Cup, maybe we would’ve had status quo.

“I’m just wondering if the authorities that have stepped up their involvement in the game would’ve done that if the choices had been a bit different.

“Maybe the best thing that happened in football was Russia and Qatar.”

Concacaf, the North and Central America and Carribbean federations, has itself struggled with corruption perhaps more than any other of Fifa’s five others, with Montagliani seeking to address the troubles and the image with the appointment of a first chief compliance officer and a potential renaming of the organisation.

“No longer can a president or anyone else do things on a wink and a nod,” Montagliani said.

“Right now (renaming Concacaf) is an idea. We’re looking at it.

“As an organisation you always have to look to change. Your brand or your name should not be exclusive of that.

“Part of it is the history, but part of it is also can we maximise in terms of leveraging a new brand and a new name.”