Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will kick off in Russia today, and watch the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.
Russia is hosting the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history. The matches will be held at 12 stadiums across 11 Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Volgograd and Samara.
RUSSIA READY TO WELCOME FOOTBALL FANS AND PLAYERS
“Our country is ready to host the FIFA World Cup, and provide everyone who will come to Russia with maximum comfort and the best emotions possible,” Putin said at the 68th FIFA Congress, held in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Russian president also expressed gratitude to FIFA President Gianni Infantino for his positive attitude toward Russia and the great job he has done as the FIFA head.
FOREIGN LEADERS TO ATTEND OPENING CEREMONY
According to the Kremlin, the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony will be attended by more than 20 world leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abkhazian President Raul Khajimba, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, and President of the Presidium of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Kim Yong Nam.
OVER 2.5 MILLION TICKETS SOLD
FIFA said on June 9 that more than 2.5 million World Cup tickets had already been sold to fans across the world, with the final stage of ticket sales open since April 18. More than 870,000 tickets were bought by Russians, almost 90,000 by fans from the United States and over 72,500 by Brazilians.
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