July 21 – Three Russian cities have been identified as being those which face being cut from the country’s 2018 World Cup programme.
Last week, comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter at the World Cup closing press conference in Brazil caused confusion in Russia both with the 2018 World Cup organisers and amongst the media.
Blatter said that FIFA was holding meetings in September to discuss the number of stadiums that will be used for 2018 and whether there should be a reduction from the 12 currently being planned to 10. The comments were made two days after Russian Sports Minister Valery Mutko outlined in greater detail the 12 stadia in 11 cities that would host the World Cup.
But now reports in Russia suggest construction projects in Volgograd in southern Russia, the western exclave of Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains could face further scrutiny.
The Russian sports media group R-Sport was quoted as saying that the three cities are in danger of being cut because of excessive spending and lack of sufficient medical facilities and transportation infrastructure.
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