Russia to host its first World Cup event
An evening that was brutal for England and classic for Russia; the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) announced the rights to host World Cup 2018 and 2022 in Zurich, Switzerland at 02 December, 2010. Russia has been given the rights
to host any World Cup event for the very first time. They were selected for World Cup 2018 over the co – bidders Netherland/ Belgium, Spain/ Portugal and England.
The 2018 bidding process started officially in March 2009, when eleven bids were received from 13 countries. Indonesia’s bid was rejected due to potential absence of governmental support and Mexico withdrew their bid due to lack of financial capital. Some
of them placed the bid for both world cup events and some did for a single event only. Russian bid was controversial following an official’s complaint regarding FIFA’s rule, talking about rival bidders. The complaint was taken back after Russia’s apology.
Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Igor Shuvalov said, “FIFA has entrusted us for the World Cup 2018 and I can assure that fans will never regret it. Let’s make history.” When voting started, Russia received nine votes in the first round and thirteen
in the second round which depicted their outright majority. Spain and Portugal received seven votes in both rounds, Netherland and Belgium received four in the first round and two in the second, whereas England got only two votes in the first round. England
probably need to ponder on their strategy after the backlash of BBC’s program on FIFA officials involved in bribe.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was expected to fly to Zurich to take part in the lobbying but he rather stayed in Moscow. Now he would fly to Zurich to thank FIFA officials for giving them the opportunity which he described as ‘a sign of trust in
our country.’ Vladimir Putin expressed in an interview, “Russian people love football, we know what football is and what it takes to hold a successful event. We have everything here to conduct the event at a worthy level. The verdict has shown FIFA’s philosophy
of developing the game in the regions where it needs development.”
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