Putin to meet with FIFA President Infantino in Moscow on June 21 — Kremlin

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting on Monday in Moscow with Gianni Infantino, the president of the world’s governing football body, FIFA, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. According to Peskov, the Russian leader and the FIFA chief will discuss a wide range of issues, including the heritage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as well as the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Moscow this summer. "Gianni Infantino will be in the Kremlin today," Peskov told journalists. "There are numerous issues on the agenda and among them are definitely the issues of the [2018 FIFA] World Cup heritage as well as the cooperation with Russia regarding the next World Cup [2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar]." The presidential spokesman said that "the previous country [to host the World Cup] always shares its experience of its tournament organization [with the next host]. Our cooperation with Qatar is at a very good level in this regard." Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 at eight stadiums in seven cities across the country, namely in Doha, Lusail, Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Umm Salal and Madinat ash Shamal. "Moreover, Russia had been granted the right to host the [2021 FIFA] Beach Soccer World Cup and this tournament is scheduled to be held in Russia in August," Peskov continued. "This issue will be also discussed between Putin and Infantino." 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia Russia hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup in 2018, which kicked off in Moscow with a remarkable opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of June 14, 2018 and ended with a spectacular final match, also played at Luzhniki Stadium, where France boldly defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the much-coveted World Cup Trophy. The championship was organized at 12 stadiums in 11 cities across Russia, namely in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said after the world championship that Russia had staged "the best World Cup ever." In late December 2018, FIFA announced in its statement that the World Cup in Russia set a new record as far as audiences go in the history of world football championships since over half of the world’s population watched these matches on TV at home, outside their domains or on digital platforms. 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup A decision to award the Russian capital of Moscow the right to host the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was made during the FIFA Council meeting in China’s Shanghai in late October 2019. Two other contenders to host the global beach soccer event in 2021 were FESFUT (the Salvadorian Football Association) and the Chilean Football Association. After the Russian capital was selected to host the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the official website of the Moscow municipal authorities launched a public opinion poll to choose among four proposed venues, including Red Square, where the matches of the global championship would be played. The first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was held back in 1995, and Russia has never hosted this international biennial event. The Russian national beach soccer team won the World Championships twice (in 2011 and 2013). The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was hosted between November 21 and December 1 in Luque, Paraguay near the capital, Asuncion, where the Russian national team won the bronze edging out Japan (5-4) in the match for third place. The Portuguese squad won the championship in Paraguay defeating Italy 6-4 in the final. Read more