Belgium may seek compensation to recover the €4.5m (£3.2m) spent on their unsuccessful 2018 World Cup bid, if Fifa’s decision to award the finals to Russia is found to be fraudulent.

“If fraud is proven it is obvious to me that we will seek compensation,” the Belgian Football Federation chairman François de Keersmaecker told Het Nieuwsblad.

Het Nieuwsblad says the Belgian federation spent 450,000 euros of Belgium’s total share of €4.5 million of the bid campaign.

De Keersmaecker says ”the federation put a lot of money and effort in this.”

The country made a joint bid with the Netherlands that cost €9m (£6.5m).

On Wednesday, Switzerland’s attorney general detailed cases of possible money-laundering in his investigation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid contests.

The Flemish government sports minister Philippe Muyters reminded the newspaper that fraud still needed to be proven.

“But if it was the case, we will, with our partners, look to proceed with a claim,” he said.

Fifa’s executive committee chose Russia ahead of the Belgian-Dutch bid, a joint bid from Portugal and Spain, and one by England.