November 23 – The 2017 Confederations Cup, the warm-up and main test event for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, will be played in Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi and Kazan, said Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko.
Played in June/July 2017, the exact dates will be confirmed at the next meting of FIFA’s executive committee at the Club World Cup in Marrakech, December 18/19.
Looking further aheard to the 2018 World Cup, Mutko said that the decision on where to play the third-placed play off game has not been taken yet.
However, he did say that each stadium used in 2018 will host at least four games. Which games will be played where will be a decision taken at a later date with FIFA, he said.
Speaking in Sochi after a series of meetings with FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, Mutko said fans would not have the same logistics issues that were experiences in Brazil this year as Russia has a very different transport system and a very developed rail system.
In more general terms on stadium build, Mutko said that stadium construction in Kaliningrad will start in April 2015/
“There are no questions for 10 out of 12 stadiums. Time frames for the stadiums in Yekaterinburg and Kaliningrad were corrected. The stadium in Kaliningrad will have 35,000 places. With regards to a place for construction of the stadium, all locations were considered. I do not want to announce anything, but we will close this question in the coming week. There is a big possibility, that the stadium in Kaliningrad will be build in the Oktiabrskij island (Island of October),” said Mutko.
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