Russian World Cup 2018 Organizing Committee to Have Budget Deficit in 2015

According to the Russian sport minister, the 2018 football World Cup will mostly rely on donations from individuals due to its budget deficit for 2015. In November, an official said that the organization's budget, calculated in foreign currency and provided by FIFA in dollars, did not depend on its exchange rate with the ruble.

MOSCOW, December 26 (Sputnik) — The organizing committee of the 2018 football World Cup in Russia will have a budget deficit for the year 2015 and will solicit donations from individuals, Russian Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko said Friday.

"There is a deficit budget for the year 2015. The organizing committee will rely on donations from individuals," Mutko, who is also the organizing committee's chairman, told journalists at its fourth meeting.

In November, organizing committee chief Alexey Sorokin said that the organization's budget, calculated in foreign currency and provided by FIFA in dollars, did not depend on its exchange rate with the ruble.

Sorokin made the statement as the ruble depreciated on the back of a global decline in oil prices and Western sanctions imposed against Moscow over its alleged interference in the situation in Ukraine. In 2014, the ruble has so far lost over 40 percent of it value against the dollar.

World Cup 2018 Preparation Free of Major Problems Requiring Governmental Help

There are no problems with hosting the 2018 football World Cup requiring Russian government involvement, the country's Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko stated Friday.

"[There are] no major problems, that would require government's decisions on the World Cup," Mutko, who is also the organizing committee's chairman, speaking with journalists at its fourth meeting.

The sport minister also added that the cost of building stadiums for the World Cup has not changed, but "the situation on the market could introduce [price] adjustments."

On December 2, 2010, Russia was awarded the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The football championship will be hosted by 11 Russian cities: Moscow, Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, St. Petersburg and Volgograd.