Joint meeting of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport and the 2018 FIFA World Russia Local Organizing Committee held in Moscow

3 October 2017, Tuesday

On October 3, in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a joint meeting of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport and the Supervisory Board of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Organizing Committee, which discussed the preparations for the FIFA World Cup.

"We have actually already conducted a "dress rehearsal", which was the Confederations Cup," Putin said, opening the meeting. “The International Federation, Russian and foreign journalists, fans and gave positive assessments of its organization. And once again I would like to thank all those involved in preparing this tournament and those who worked at its facilities, especially volunteers. They were at their best as usual.”

According to Putin, now it is important to analyze both the positive experience of the Cup, and some of the weak points that were revealed, for example, in public transport and sale of souvenir gifts. There were problems with providing navigation for fans and their comfort at the stadiums.

“All this should be fully taken into account during the preparations for the 2018 World Cup, especially because the tournament is much larger than the Confederation Cup and, accordingly, requires more attention and effective coordination of all the agencies involved,” Putin continued. “Football fans certainly expect that the players of the Russian national team, the hosts of the championship, will play their best and give it their all for every match,” he added.

"In addition, we need to look once again at the availability of tickets and to increase the number of cheap tickets as much as possible. Naturally, this issue must be resolved in close cooperation with FIFA and on the basis of the Confederations Cup experience," Putin said. 

The main question today is the readiness of facilities. Delays on the preparation schedule for the world championship are unacceptable, Putin stated.

Prime Minister of Tatarstan Alexey Pesoshin represented the republic at the meeting.

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