A World Cup in Russia would benefit football more than anywhere else

By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

May 13 – Russia have tried to put a positive spin on their lack of modern football stadiums and facilities by claiming that awarding them the 2018 World Cup would help the development of the sport in the world’s biggest country, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov claimed today.

Russia is competing with England, Australia, the United States, Spain and Portugal and Belgium and the Netherlands to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

Japan, South Korea and Qatar are bidding just for the second tournament.

“They already have stadiums, the experience of hosting big competitions,” Shuvalov said at a news conference in Moscow today ahead of leaving for Zurich where they tomorrow will hand in their bid book to FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

“Given the rights to host the World Cup, Russia would be able to do more than anyone else.

“Everything will be done from scratch.

“Many believe that is a minus, but we think the opposite - it is an advantage, as we will create a basis for football for the future.”

The World Cup host should have 11 to 12 stadiums capable of housing 40,000 people and one capable of housing 80,000.

Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, which hosted the 1980 Olympics and the venue for Manchester United’s victory over Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2008, is the closest to the requirement with a current capacity of 78,000.

Russia intends to build several stadiums to meet the requirements.

Five World Cup-level stadiums are to be ready by 2013 – two in Moscow and one apiece in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi.

Shuvalov also claimed that by awarding the tournament to Russia it would help the popularity of the sport.

“If Russia hosts the championship, it will, more than any other country, help the development of international football,” he said.

“It would mean an unprecedented involvement of a large number of people from different ethnic backgrounds in preparation for this major event.”

Alexey Sorokin, the chief executive of Russia’s bid, refused to put a figure on how much investment would be needed to build the stadiums and infrastructure required if the country was awarded the World Cup.

“Before the bid is submitted to FIFA, we cannot announce the sum,” he said.

“There are separate chapters dedicated to the issue in the bid - one for 2018, another for 2022.

“This is a careful and balanced budget, calculated taking many factors into account.”

But Shuvalov promised that the Government would underwrite the costs of hosting the event.

“The state guarantees, which are set out in the bid, were obtained only after a detailed discussion of all the financial aspects of the application.

“The budget was drafted with the participation of the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance.”

Russia’s bid has been boosted by Blatter’s recent comments that a World Cup there would be “remarkable”.

Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s Sports Minister and a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, claimed that this could be important, especially as he has also held several meetings with Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, the President and Prime Minister respectively.

“As for the position of FIFA President - well, he did visit our country.

“He held meetings with the Russian President and Prime Minister, and basically he is inspired by the serious political support and the guarantees we provide regarding organisational issues.

“On the whole, the position of FIFA’s President is to promote international football through this championship.

“Therefore, we consider him an ally in our bid.”

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