Mutko: Security must have special emphasis - RUSSIA 2018
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2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ Local Organising Committee (LOC) Management Board with FIFA participation met in Moscow to review the main achievements in 2015 and discuss the preparations to FIFA Confederations Cup 2017. Tuesday’s meeting was followed by a wide-ranging press conference. Speaking to the media were FIFA Acting Secretary General Markus Kattner and LOC Chairman Vitaly Mutko.
FIFA.com recaps what they had to say.
LOC Chairman Vitaly Mutko:
We realize that due to the circumstances in the world special emphasis should be put on security. We discussed this topic in detail, and the colleagues from FIFA asked us to give a special focus on FIFA Fan Fests in this regard. This is under special control.
Considering the LOC budget, its optimization has already been processed. For us it was important to keep all the agreed amount of financing, and that we stay within the budget.
Kaliningrad has a delay. The Kaliningrad government devised a project, which was not approved. The project is now under consideration of the experts again. We look forward to a favourable conclusion of the stadium project shortly. We hope that work will catch up within the year and will continue according to the plan which was identified before.
We work as one team and this is exactly the formula for success which we can expect to see at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Of course, we are planning to fulfil all obligations.
FIFA Acting Secretary General Markus Kattner:
A few points about 2015: I would like to highlight again the fantastic Preliminary Draw, which was organized in Saint Petersburg. We saw the kick-off of World Cup Qualifiers in five of the six Confederations, plus the launch of the Sustainability strategy, where FIFA is in the lead. It is a very important strategy for us, including work conditions, environmental aspects, etc. Also the Mascot development process has begun, which was initiated by Russian young people and university design students.
The FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, which is more than just a warm-up to the World Cup, is a great opportunity to test operations in four of the host cities: Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and Sochi - and also four World Cup stadiums, as well as well as to train staff and volunteers. Last but not least it is a chance to engage Russian people, to send a message to the world of what can be expected in 2018. The Confederations Cup will start with the Draw, which will take place on 26 November 2016 at the Kazan Tennis Academy.