March 13 – FIFA have confirmed that 568,448 tickets have been allocated following the second random selection draw sales window from 5 December to 31 January, on top of the 735,168 tickets allocated during the first sales phase, making a total of 1,303,616 tickets allocated to date.
March 8 – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will be a pundit for Russia Today (RT) during this summer’s World Cup. The international broadcast network is funded by the Kremlin and often perceived as a controversial mouthpiece of Vladimir Putin’s regime.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 7 – The humiliation of Vitaly Mutko, for years one of FIFA’s most influential administrators, is complete after it was confirmed that the once all-powerful Russian football supremo has been forced to relinquish his last remaining role with the World Cup this summer.
By Samindra Kunti in Zurich
March 5 – Russia 2018 anti-discrimination chief Alexey Smertin has reiterated that LGBT fans will be welcome at the World Cup this summer. Rainbow flags will be allowed to fly at stadiums during the tournament.
February 22 – Construction delays at the new Samara World Cup Arena have been resolved according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, with test games now rescheduled for end April.
February 13 – Who says sport and politics don’t mix? With Ukrainian journalists having already been refused accreditation by their national fa and having to approach FIFA directly, Ukraine’s public broadcaster has now decided not to show any of the games in Russia.
February 13 – FIFA is facing calls from human rights organisations to scrap Chechnya as a World Cup base for Egypt this summer.
February 8 – Russia’s Sports Ministry is suing companies building World Cup stadiums for 2.9 billion rubles ($50.8 million) over delays in constructions schedules.
By David Owen
February 2 – For the second World Cup running, FIFA is planning to test anti-doping samples at a laboratory outside the host country.
By David Owen
January 30 – Twenty years have passed since I was dispatched on one of those hardship assignments: a visit to L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie in a quiet little town noted for its brioches in La France profonde.
By Samindra Kunti
January 26 – Saint Petersburg will carry out a massive 11,000 police officers strong law enforcement operation during the 2018 World Cup when the city will host six matches, including one semi-final, to ensure the safety and security of travelling fans. To date supporters from around the world have requested more than 4 million tickets during the second sales window of World Cup tickets.
January 25 – A report by Russia’s state-run newspaper Pravda has accused neighbours Ukraine of trying to disrupt next summer’s World Cup.
January 24 – Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism has named and shamed a list of hotels that have jacked up their prices by massive amounts for the World Cup.
January 23 – The global leg of the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour sponsored by Coca-Cola kicked off with an official launch ceremony in London on Monday and plans to hit 91 cities across 51 countries and six continents.
January 16 – Football fans around the world remain keen on attending the World Cup, the quadrennial high mass of the global game. In all, 3,141,163 tickets have been requested in the second sales phase, which runs until the end of January.