Russia Ready for Hosting FIFA World Cup in 2018 - Mexican Football Federation

Russia is ready to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, set to be held in 11 Russian cities, at a high level, Israel Marquez, the Mexican Football Federation communications manager, told Sputnik Wednesday.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Russia will host the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2018, with the championship set to kick off on June 14 and continue through July 15. Moscow, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi and Ekaterinburg will host the games.

“Russia is ready to organize the World Cup,” Marquez said, stressing Russia’s excellent arrangement of the latest Confederations Cup, held from June 17 to July 2.

Marquez underscored that the stadiums he visited in Russia were equipped with all necessary technologies and infrastructure and had first-class football fields.

Marquez noted that the security measures seemed excessive, although “it is better to prevent something than to have regrets.”

Marquez said he noticed some problems related to Russian stadium staff knowledge of foreign languages during the Confederations Cup, however he stressed that the issues were not difficult to settle.

The Confederations Cup was held in the Russian cities of Kazan, Sochi, St. Petersburg and Moscow. New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico, Cameroon, Chile, Australia and Germany have sent their national teams to participate in the cup. The German national football team won cup 1-0 in the final match with the Chilean team.