Fourth visit of FIFA delegation to 2018 FIFA World cup stadiums to be held September 7-15

MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. The fourth operational visit of the delegation of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to the Russian stadiums that will host matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place September 7-15, the Russia-2018 organizing committee said Tuesday in a news release. The first operational visit of the FIFA delegation took place in October 2014, the second in September 2015 and the third in April 2016. "Within the framework of the visit, to be held September 7-15, the delegation will visit stadiums in five cities-organizers of the 2018 World Cup matches - in Moscow (Luzhniki stadium), Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad," the statement said. "In Kaliningrad, with the help of a virtual tour and presentations, the delegation will also get familiarized with renewed operational plans of the remaining World Cup arenas (in Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Moscow (Spartak stadium), Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Sochi," it said. "The delegation will be led by Russia-2018 organizing committee general director Alexey Sorokin and FIFA Director of Competitions Colin Smith. The visit aims.. to discuss work at stadiums during events," the statement said. Russia is currently in full-swing preparations for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup after the country won the bid to host the world’s major football event at the FIFA Congress in Guatemala on December 4, 2010. The victory came following a tight race against a bid from England, a joint bid by Portugal and Spain and a joint bid on behalf of Belgium and the Netherlands. The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara. The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in Russia’s capital. The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will be held next year between June 17 and July 1 at four stadiums in Russia and they are Otkritie-Arena in Moscow, St. Petersburg Arena, Fisht in Sochi and Kazan-Arena in Kazan. Read more