Rusia será sede de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA por primera vez

Russia will host the FIFA World Cup in 2018. This decision was made December 2, 2010 by the executive committee of FIFA, – informs the news agency “RIA Novosti”.

Championship will be held in June–July 2018 during four – five weeks. Matches of the championship will be held throughout Russia. As member cities at this time were announced: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Saransk, Sochi, Yaroslavl, Samara and Yekaterinburg, but at the end no more than ten-eleven cities will remain.

Vladimir Putin, who arrived personally to thank the members of the FIFA Executive Committee, said that Russia has all chances to carry FIFA World Cup – 2018 at a decent level. “We want to do everything possible to ensure the comfort and safety of our guests”, – emphasized the prime minister.

According to Putin, the opportunity to host the World Cup will stimulate the development of transport infrastructure and tourism industry in Russia. Already is planned major restructuring of the largest airports, modernization of railways, construction of new hotels across Russia, recreation, maintenance of roads.

Moreover, Vladimir Putin has promised that foreign fans will have the opportunity to attend the championship in visa-free regime and travel free of charge between the cities where matches will take place.

Vladimir Putin has estimated the cost of preparing for World Cup 2018 in $ 10 million, but noted that money will not be taken out of public funds. “We want to involve private business”, – said Putin. The cost of preparations can also be reduced due to the fact that the construction of sports facilities is already being actively developed across the country.

Putin emphasized that Russian application “respond the philosophy of FIFA, which is to expand the boundaries of world football in new territories and new countries”. After all, in Eastern Europe the World Cup has never been performed yet.

FIFA executive committee members were to choose one of several applications: besides of Russia, the applications were made by Britain, Spain and Portugal, Belgium and Netherlands.