German journalist Hajo Seppelt, working for ARD, used his official Twitter account to highlight the episode referring to the "widespread culture of cheating in the country with the most football doping cases worldwide."

In 2017, ARD broadcast another Seppelt investigation into the doping among footballers in Brazil in one of the "Doping Top secret“ episodes. According to Seppelt, Brazilian doctor Julio Alves had been providing athletes with prohibited substances.

Starting from 2014, ARD has also released a series of documentaries on the alleged systematic use of doping by Russian track and field athletes.

After the broadcast of the first documentary, a World Anti-Doping Agency commission chaired by Richard Pound was set up to investigate the matter.

The commission later reported that most of ARD's claims had been confirmed and recommended the International Association of Athletics Federations to temporarily ban Russian athletes from all competitions.

The match between five-time World Cup winners Brazil and Mexico is set to take place at the Samara Arena on Tuesday (12am AEST).

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the games being played in 11 cities across the country.