Part 1 - Special Feature: Russia’s venues for the FIFA 2018 World Cup
Yesterday, the footballing world was shocked by FIFA’s selection of Russia as the host for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Siberian nation, which was seen as one of the underdogs of the bidding process, emerged victorious in the end
after FIFA’s executive committee members voted in Russia’s favor. The voting took place in Zurich, Switzerland. Russia beat off competition from England, and two joint bids from Spain/Portugal and the Netherlands/Belgium.
On 2 December, Russia’s bid was dealt a setback when the country's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin did not travel to Zurich to provide a boost to Russia’s
2018 bid. Putin’s decision to do so was seen as a very naive one at first, as government officials from other bidding countries were present in Zurich, and the lobbying process gathered pace during the last few hours before the voting began. England were favourites
to win the right to host the 2018 World Cup, and their bid was given a lift by the presence of Prince William, David Beckham and Prime Minister David Cameron.
Despite the fact that England’s 2018 bid team put together one of the best presentations in Zurich in a bid to impress the executive committee, their bid was eliminated in the first round of voting. The first round elimination
came after England only managed to gather two of the 22 votes that were up for offer during the executive committee's voting process.
In the second round of voting, Russia gathered the 12 votes needed for victory, as Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium’s bids failed to compete against the Russians.
Russia now have a massive stadium building project on their hands. Despite unsatisfactory noises from England in the aftermath of their early elimination from the voting process, the Russians have affirmed that they will give the
world, a world cup to remember.
This isn’t the first time that Russia is hosting a major sports competition, as during the days of the Soviet Union, the communist superpower hosted the Olympics. In 2008, Russia hosted the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester
United and Chelsea; it was a well organised event which was impeccably hosted by the Russian federation.
However, a lot of time has passed since then, and there are concerns about whether Russia will be able to live up to its promises. To ascertain the seriousness of the concerns, one should take a look at the stadiums that have
been given as proposed venues for the tournament in 2018. Some of the stadiums are yet to be built, while others will be revamped by the Russian football federation.
The first of the venues which Russia has proposed for the 2018 World Cup is the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow; the ground that played host to the 2008 UEFA Champions League final.
In line with FIFA's goal of taking the game to more diverse environments, which they succeeded with in South Africa, Brazil (2014), Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) will give football fans a radically new experience. Moscow itself
is one of the biggest cities in the world, and fans who visit Moscow can definitely delight themselves with the history of the metropolis.
Not only that, the Russian capital is seen as a traditionally enigmatic city; a mysterious venue, a city which thrives on entertaining architectural romantics. Fans will also benefit from the cities modern entertainment venues
and its famous bars.
The Luzhniki stadium, where some World Cup matches are scheduled to be held , was constructed in 1956 and will have a total capacity of around 89,000 after it has been upgraded. The football pitch at the stadium is an artificial
one, but an original one might be laid out for the World Cup. Luzhniki stadium was purpose built as part of a huge Olympic complex, but the stadium itself has been consistently updated. It is also one of the few footballing venues in Russia with a five-star
UEFA rating.
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