Saudi Arabian football fan sets off on 50-day journey to Moscow for 2018 FIFA World Cup

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. A football fan from Saudi Arabia set on from his country on Wednesday for a 50-day travel to the Russian capital of Moscow to see the national team playing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Saudi Press Agency stated. According to the agency, Saudi amateur traveler Mikhled bin Khalid Al-Otaibi set on his journey from the town of Tabuk in the northwest of the country. Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the governor of Tabuk Region, personally gave the starting signal for Al-Otaibi to begin his journey, which he dedicated to mark the qualifying of the Saudi Arabian national football team to the final competition of the much-anticipated global football championship. "Al-Otaibi is scheduled to reach Russia via Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, a 3,000 kilometers journey expected to take 50 days," the Saudi Press Agency announced. "Al-Otaibi said he is carrying the flag of his country and portraits of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud." The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 50 days with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia at the legendary Luzhniki Stadium. On December 1, 2017, the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow hosted the Final Draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which determined the group breakdown for the FIFA flagship event this year. A total of 32 national football squads were divided into eight groups with four teams in each. Hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia were placed in Group A alongside the national teams from Egypt and Uruguay. Besides playing the opening match against Russia on June 14 in Moscow, the national football team of Saudi Arabia will also play during the group stage against Uruguay in the city of Rostov-on-Don on June 20 and will then meet with Egypt on June 25 in the city of Volgograd. Russia 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 the Russian capital. Read more