June 22 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has met with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the legacy of the 2018 World Cup as well as preparations for the global finals in Qatar next year.
The Kremlin released a short statement, writing that “The parties exchanged views on preparations for the FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar in 2022 and discussed the legacy of the Russian FIFA World Cup, as well as the upcoming FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to be held in Russia in August.”
On the eve of 2018 World Cup, Infantino claimed at Congress that “Russia will be conquered” and, while historically such predictions have backfired, FIFA and its quadrennial high mass did prevail to reaffirm the World Cup as the pinnacle of the modern game, generating more than $4.5 billion from the tournament.
For the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA projects to meet its revenue target of $4.6 billion, of which more than 80% has already been contracted.
In August, Russia will host the beach World Cup in Moscow. The Russians saw off rivals bids from both Chile and El Salvador to land the tournament, which will kick off on August 19 and culminate with the final ten days later.
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