11 Russian cities ready to host 2018 World Cup

Russia’s preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup are in full swing as the country gets 11 cities ready to host the tournament in three years time.

The Local Organising Committee are currently showing journalists around the 11 World Cup cities to show how the work is going.

Construction is underway in Russia’s city of Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, some 1700 km (around 1000 miles) east of Moscow, where a Soviet-time soccer stadium is to be fully rebuilt for the 2018 World Cup.

On Sunday construction machines were pulling down the stands of the sports venue built in 1950s

Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region, Valentin Gripas, said this stage will be complete by the end of summer this year.

“Demolition works will be complete until the end of August this year. The contractor will start constructing columns, preparing the foundation for columns. This year we will start constructing the carcass. The schedule is very intense, but the works will be completed by December 2017,” he said.

According to the official website of Russia 2018 World Cup the Soviet facade will remain in place, as a new arena with 35,000 sits will fit in the spot.

According to Itar-Tass news agency information, the city’s Koltsovo airport will be partially reconstructed for the championship. The international terminal will be renovated and a new parking lot will appear next to it.

On Wednesday (July 8), Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said there was no threat of Russia being stripped of the World Cup due to the impending change of FIFA president or the FBI probe into alleged corruption at world soccer’s governing body.

The FBI is investigating widespread allegations of FIFA corruption going back more than two decades, while the Swiss authorities are probing the voting mechanism that saw Russia win the right to stage the next edition and Qatar the 2022 finals.

Russia has been a staunch ally of outgoing FIFA chief Sepp Blatter over the years and have supported him during his 17 years as president, and Mutko praised the 79-year-old Swiss.

Blatter said last month he was “laying down his mandate” just days after winning a fifth term and less than a week after police arrested seven FIFA officials in a dawn raid in Zurich.

FIFA’s executive committee meets on July 20 in Zurich to determine when an extraordinary congress will be held to elect a new president on a date between December and March next year.