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Russia Promises ‘Warm Welcome’ During 2017-18 FIFA Games, Accuses Western Media Of Smear Campaign

By Aybulat Musaev June 5, 2017

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2018 FIFA World Cup mascot

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised a “warm welcome” to guests and participants of the upcoming FIFA 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup tournament in the Caspian region’s largest country, Russia.

"I’m sure that the Russian authorities will do their best to extend a warm welcome to all our guests," Lavrov said recently.

FIFA 2018 World Cup preparations are currently underway in Russia, after the country won host status in the final round of voting at the FIFA Congress held in Guatemala on December 4, 2010.

Twelve stadiums at eleven cities throughout Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara) will play host to the matches of the 2018 World Cup from June 14 through July 15, 2018.

The 10th 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will be held in Russia first, however. From June 17 to July 2 of this year the Spartak Stadium in Moscow, the Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg, the Fisht Stadium in Sochi and the Kazan Arena in Kazan will act as a sort of dress rehearsal for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

"A lot depends on how we arrange everything, how we receive our guests,” Lavrov said.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was in Russia’s southern Krasnodar city on May 23, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss preparations and observe developments on the ground.

"We will do everything to bring facilities and terms of stay in Russia as well as everything regarding the service provision to numerous fans, spectators and athletes to the highest possible level,” Putin assured Infantino.

The Russian government announced last month that it has increased the budget for World Cup preparations, up $81 million from the planned budget of $11 billion. More than $6 billion has been allocated from Russia’s federal budget, $1.59 billion from regional budgets and $3.38 billion from sponsors and other organizations.

Russia is considered to be the “spendthrift” FIFA World Cup host. By comparison, the US allocated $5.6 billion for the same purpose in 1995 and France $2 billion in 1998. Qatar, which will host the World Cup in 2020, will reportedly spend $200 billion, however.

Football, or “soccer” as it is called in the US, is not immune from politics.

"The campaign to sow fear among football fans, who intend to come to Russia for the 2018 World Cup, is gaining momentum,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on May 25.

Zakharova said there is a “media blitz” against Russia, and she accused Western media of deliberately trying to thrash the country’s organizing of two of the world’s biggest sporting events.

“The story repeats itself and we see a media blitz just like before the Olympics in Sochi," Zakharova said from Moscow. "We will see in particular variations of these scenarios, such as the unpreparedness of sports facilities, and the organizers’ unfriendliness and unprofessionalism. The issue of human rights will be under a magnifying glass, just like in Sochi. These are the carbon-copy developments.”

In May, Putin signed a decree to strengthen security measures throughout Russia during the Confederations and World Cup. Any planned rallies to be held during either game must be coordinated with the Interior Ministry’s regional departments and relevant security agencies, and the sale of any kind of weaponry will be banned in those areas with tighter security. In addition, the sale of explosives and poisonous substances, other than those contained in medicines, are banned.