By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – More details of infrastructure build and budgeted spends are emerging for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Samara region is planning to spend more than RUB 77 billion (£1.1billion) in its preparations. While it has been announced that training bases will be set up in 20 Russian cities for national teams – World Cup matches will be played in 11 cities,
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.
November 20 – Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko has said that the construction contract to build the 17 billion ruble ($365 million) stadium in Nizhniy Novgorod will be signed on November 25-26 with 50% of the payment being upfront.
By Paul Nicholson
November 18 – Russia’s first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov has said that the construction spend on stadia for the 2018 World Cup will remain fixed at 300 billion roubles ($6.4 billion) – the same figure that was set in 2010. Shuvalov made his remarks on a visit to Moscow’s recently complete Okritie-Arena, one of two venues in the capital that will host matches in 2018.
By Pail Nicholson
November 12 – As part of its 2018 World Cup planning the Russian emergencies ministry is setting up special task groups in FIFA World Cup host cities.
November 11 – Russia’s government has announced a further RUB 4 billion (£55 million) increase in budget for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The new funds are earmarked for infrastructure and utilities projects.
November 6 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), an international focussed on sport safety, security and integrity, has been named as a sponsor of the World Football Forum being held in Moscow next week.
October 31 – The Russia 2018 World Cup will be held at 12 stadiums across 11 cities. In keeping with World Cup tradidition a series of posters have been designed to promote the World Cup and refelct the culture and traditions of the country’s football. Pictured here is a gallery of the posters from the 11 cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Sochi and Rostov-on-Don.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – FIFA have been forced to apologise for a politically embarrassing gaffe after a video launching the logo for the 2018 World Cup in Russia displayed the disputed Crimean peninsula as being part of Russian territory.
October 30 – Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko will give the welcome address to World Football Forum gathering in Moscow, November 13. Organiser have now released their programme for the event which ends with a VIP reception at the Inter-Continental Hotel.
October 29 – The official launch of the 2018 FIFA World Cup logo took place last night in Russia at a televised ceremony that enlisted the help of an international space station crew and saw the emblem projected on to the historic Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
October 29 – Russian President Vladimir Putin, under continual pressure from critics to allow everyone at the 2018 World Cup to move and act freely, says measures will be “effective but not intrusive”.
October 24 – Piara Powar (pictured), executive director or Football Against Racism in Europe and a member of FIFA’s anti-discrimination task force, has added his voice to growing calls that Russia needs to stop paying lip-service to racism in the country and to tackle the problem head-on rather than from the current position of denial.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 22 – The head of Russia’s 2018 World Cup organizing committee insists that football in his country is not institutionally racist but admits that widely publicised episodes of abuse by fans, combined with instances of hooliganism, were doing nothing to enhance the country’s image.
October 22 – FIFA inspectors say they are happy with Russia’s early preparations for the 2018 World Cup – in contrast to the concerns over delays that enveloped Brazil ahead of last summer’s tournament.