"Any instance relating to an apparent restriction of press freedom is of concern to Fifa and will be looked into with the seriousness it deserves," it said in a statement.
Fifa, which has come under fire for failing to use the leverage of the World Cup to press for changes to labour laws, said: "Any instance relating to an apparent restriction of press freedom is of concern to Fifa and will be looked into with the seriousness it deserves".
In view of the breaking news about the arrests of Fifa officials in Switzerland I make no apologies for reproducing the column I wrote for last week's London Evening Standard: Please read this sentence and try not to laugh after doing so: "Any instance relating to an apparent restriction of press freedom is of concern to Fifa and will be looked into with the seriousness it deserves".
The conflicting accounts were impossible to corroborate because of restrictions on press access in Syria, where, according to a United Nations estimate, more than 5,000 people have been killed since March.
USA Today and the Tacoma News Tribune are refusing to publish White House handout photos in protest of restrictions on press access.
Moreover, the law contains no provisions for "censorship, preliminary restriction of the press, stifling of political opinion, or ex post retribution".
On 26 July 2011, the United States followed suit, freezing a US$350 million grant, citing concerns regarding the government's suppression and intimidation of demonstrators and civic groups, as well as restriction of the press and police violence.
These human rights issues encompass areas ranging from freeing political prisoners, addressing the methods of torture, and restriction on freedom of press, expression and speech, to name a few.
When it comes to human rights violations in Iran, such as the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, arbitrary detentions and unfair trials, torture, executions, public hangings, and restrictions on freedom of press, expression and speech, there is no significant ideological division across Iran's political spectrum.
During the 1980s Loretta also chaired the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, lobbying parliament for restrictions on the concentration of press and TV ownership and fighting for fairer representation of women and ethnic minorities.
King Hamad presided over parliamentary elections, the relaxation of press restrictions and economic reforms that gave human rights activists and the Shia majority new optimism.
