Mutko to chair 2018 organising committee
Reuters - Wednesday 27 April 2011, 16:21
MOSCOW - Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko
was appointed chairman of the Russian organising committee for
the 2018 World Cup on Wednesday.
Mutko, who is also a member of FIFA's executive board, was
given the job following a meeting of Russia's 2018 World Cup
supervisory board, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"The Prime Minister chose (Mutko)... sorry I can't say much
more," Alexei Sorokin, who headed the Russian bid for the 2018
tournament, was quoted as saying by local media.
Putin was widely credited with helping Russia win the right
to stage the football extravaganza when it beat England, and joint
bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands in December.
Mutko said that Moscow's 80,000-seat Luzhniki Olympic Stadium would most likely host the World Cup final and one of
the semi-finals, with St Petersburg staging the other semi.
Mutko also said the 2017 Confederation Cup, an eight-team
tournament which acts as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup,
would be staged by four cities, Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan and
Sochi, which is hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics.