Putin to head 2018 supervisory board
Reuters - Friday 18 March 2011, 20:02
MOSCOW - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
will head the supervisory board of the 2018 World Cup to be
hosted by Russia, the country's government said on Friday.
A statement on the government's website said Putin had signed a decree establishing the supervisory
board of the non-profit organisation "Russia 2018 Organising
Committee".
The board also includes First Deputy Prime Minister Igor
Shuvalov, who led the Russian bid at the FIFA headquarters in
Zurich, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and St Petersburg Governor
Valentina Matvienko.
Putin was widely credited with helping the world's largest
country win the right to stage the sport's biggest event for the
first time when it beat England, and joint bids from
Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands in December.
Russia faces the huge task of hosting the soccer
extravaganza with much of the infrastructure yet to be built.