By Paul Nicholson
October 2 – With the world watching out for the safety and welfare of the migrant labour, construction of stadia for the Qatar 2022 World Cup has begun in earnest with the Supreme Committee for delivery and Legacy revealing that it is at different stages of build on five stadiums.
September 30 – Russia’s Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko, has said that while the plans for infrastructure build in 11 cities the 2018 World Cup are unchanged, costs of construction are mounting.
September 25 – Russia is building more than stadia and infrastructure for the 2018 World Cup. Next week the Russian Football Union’s (RFU) working group tasked with preparing a competitive team for the championship will meet to discuss a raft of suggestions to improve the competitiveness of the national team.
September 24 – The City of Moscow’s Chief Architect, Sergey Kuznetsov (pictured) will share his experience of working in the Russian market and the major sporting projects he has been involved in at the World Football Forum, November 13.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 23 – A senior FIFA executive committee member has broken ranks to predict that the 2022 World Cup will be switched from Qatar, incurring a strong and immediate reaction from the organisers who insist there is no chance of the Gulf state being stripped of host status.
September 22 – Chris Rehner, CEO of Helios Partners, has confirmed he will speaking the session ‘Russia’s Host Cities: Development and Priorities’ at the World Football Forum in Moscow, November 13.
By Paul Nicholson
September 19 – Russia’s minister of sports Vitaly Mutko (pictured) has responded to European politicians’ calls for sports sanctions saying that nothing can be ruled out but that sports and politics should be kept separate.
September 18 – Nizhny Novgorod has received the go-ahead to build a new stadium for the 2018 World Cup, according to the city’s governor Valery Shantsev. Russia’s Ministry of Sports is expected to sign a contract for the build with construction firm Stroitransgaz before the end of October.
By Paul Nicholson
September 17 – While talk in Russian football has been about quotas on foreign players and the need to raise the quality and number of Russian coaches, top clubs still appear to be looking outside Russian borders for top management.
By Mark Baber
September 16- Liverpool FCs expansion of Anfield stadium has been recommended for approval by Council planners, with a Planning Committee vote expected next week, whilst, not to be upstaged, Everton have revealed they intend to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.
September 16 – The owner of Spartak Moscow, Leonid Fedun, said that the newly opened Otkritie Arena cost RUB 14.5 billion (S378 million) to build. But that this is only the start of the project with hotels and an indoor arena to come next.
September 11 – St Petersburg city officials have launched a tender for the completion of the Zenit Arena, which is currently being built on Krestovskiy island for the 2018 World Cup. The 61,251-capacity stadium will cost about €934 million. The total value of the contracts that will complete the project is RUB 9.14 billion (€190 million).
By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
September 10 – Organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar believe they will be exonerated in the 350-page report into possible corruption surrounding the ballot for the tournament which also covered the 2018 event in Russia.
September 9 – Moscow’s telecoms operators are gearing up for a streamed 2018 World Cup with task forces dispatched to work out how this can best be done, according to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – Human rights organisations have renewed their offensive against 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, this time after the apparent disappearance in the Gulf state of two British researchers probing workers’ rights. Krishna Upadhyaya and photographer Ghimire Gundev reportedly arrived in Qatar on August 27 to research a forthcoming report on the conditions of Nepalese migrant workers but there are fears they may have since been detained according to the body that employs them,