September 30 – FIFA has agreed to a reduction in capacity for two of the stadiums scheduled to host the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
THE stadiums in Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg will have a capacity of 35,000 – lower than any of the 12 venues that hosted World Cup matches in Brazil this year.
Kaliningrad, the westernmost of the 11 host cities, was originally set to have an all-new 45,000-seat arena, while Yekaterinburg’s Central Stadium was to be increased from 27,000 to around 45,000.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested in July that the Russians could drop the number of host cities by one, to ten, as well as dropping one stadium from the originally planned 12. In terms of reducing cost, the recent announcement of a reduction in capacity at two of the venues looks to be the compromise solution. The 2018 World Cup will still be played in 12 stadiums across 11 cities.
Interestingly, from now on many of the key discussions regarding 2018, from Fifa’s side at least, will be led by UEFA president Michel Platini who has just been appointed chairman of FIFA’s World Cup organising committee.
Platini is already heavily involved in trying to broker an agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian federations over the future of football in the disputed Crimea region. He will also be expected to take a strong line on racism and, although widely believed to have voted for Russia to stage the World Cup, is expected to monitor ongoing developments closely given the number of racist incidents in the country at club level.
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