FIFA has defended Russia as host of the World Cup amid doping scandals, saying there's no sign of ''widespread'' drug use in Russian football.

Russia has been stripped of dozens of medals in summer and winter Olympic sports over extensive doping and cover-ups, including tampering with samples.

Football is among the sports where positive tests were apparently covered up, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation last year.

''From the information we have, we cannot talk about widespread doping in football in Russia,'' FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura said on Tuesday, three days before FIFA hosts its World Cup draw in the Kremlin.

All World Cup samples will be shipped out of Russia to a laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, on the day they are collected, Samoura added.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)