The International Football Federation says it has no legal authority to stop forced prostitution during this year's World Cup tournament in Germany.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in a statement Thursday that while the governing body respects human life and the physical integrity of all people, it does not have legal right to regulate prostitution. Blatter said prostitution is the responsibility of the authorities and lawmakers in any given country.
Wednesday, Europe's leading human rights organization - The Council of Europe - urged Germany to guard against women being forced into prostitution during the World Cup. The Council called for Germany to set up and advertise multilingual telephone lines to allow women to receive emergency assistance.
Prostitution is legal in Germany, but the Council warned that thousands of women forced into prostitution against their will could be shipped to Germany during the World Cup. The tournament starts June 9 and ends one month later.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.