FIFA and Russia 2018 delegation checks out Yekaterinburg's credentials

By David Gold

May 16 – The FIFA and Russia 2018 delegation touring potential Host Cities for the World Cup in six years’ time has paid its latest visit to Yekaterinburg.

The city (pictured below), on the border between Europe and Asia near the Ural mountains, has been linked with the hosting of a semi-final.

At present it seems more likely that honour will go to the new Zenit stadium in St Petersburg, with the other last-four tie to be staged at the Luzhniki in Moscow.

“We are satisfied with the quality of the discussion,” Russia 2018 chief executive Alexey Sorokin said.

“As ever, the conversation is very constructive; we have an exchange of opinions and clarifications from FIFA.”

Yekaterinburg is the fifth city the delegation has visited so far.

It started out with a visit to Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don in the south of Russia last month, before moving to Kaliningrad and St Petersburg in the north.

A trip to Sochi, the Host City of the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympics, has been postponed – although the city is highly likely to stage matches during the World Cup.

FIFA’s head of the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Jurgen Muller, is heading the delegation, which heard presentations from Yekaterinburg officials.

The city hosted last week’s Russian Cup final between Dynamo Moscow and Rubin Kazan, which the latter won 1-0, at the Central Stadium (pictured top) which is primed to stage World Cup games.

The game was, however, overshadowed by scenes at the game’s conclusion when fans streamed onto the pitch.

The delegation is now moving onto Yaroslavl before decamping in Moscow today.

The final stage of the tour next month will see the group visit Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Samara and Volgograd.

In September FIFA is set to decide which 11 of the 13 Candidate Cities will host matches during the World Cup.

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