PUTIN PROMISES VISA-FREE WORLD CUP
Baku, August 18 (AZERTAC). Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday threw his weight behind what at first seemed a long-shot bid to host the world`s biggest sporting event, promising to waive visas for footballers and fans.
"We are ready to extend extra, government guarantees on visa-free entry for participants and guests of the World Cup," he told visiting FIFA officials, according to a transcript on his web site.
Russia waived visas for the thousands of fans who attended UEFA Champions League finals in Moscow in May 2008 — the first time it had ever lifted visa requirements on such a scale.
Putin on Tuesday praised Russia as a force to be reckoned with in world football. "We have about 6 million people who play football and, naturally, many more fans. That is precisely why we decided to launch a bid for hosting the 2018 championship," he said.
He also stressed that because the World Cup has never taken place in Eastern Europe, a Russian win would be "extra important for that part of the world."
Moscow has launched a double bid for the World Cup, in 2018 or 2022, along with Britain, the United States, and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/The Netherlands.
The 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil, and football`s world governing body, FIFA, will decide the 2018 and 2022 hosts on Dec. 2.
The 2018 tournament is tipped to take place in Europe, while the one in 2022 is slanted for Asia, having bids from Japan, Qatar and South Korea.
Visiting FIFA officials also met in the city`s Luzhniki stadium with Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who gave them a personal tour of the field.
The 80,000-seat stadium south of the city center is thought to be Russia`s only arena that meets FIFA`s World Cup requirements.
Analysts say the country will probably have to build 10 football stadiums from scratch and spend billions of dollars to refurbish crumbling infrastructure if it wants to host the World Cup.
Moscow`s bid envisages 16 stadiums in 13 cities, assembled in four separate geographical clusters — all situated in European Russia except for one in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The FIFA delegation on Monday visited the site of the new 60,000-seat Zenit stadium under construction in St. Petersburg. From Moscow, the officials will travel to Sochi and Kazan, which both have plans for brand-new arenas.
Construction costs for a single stadium are estimated at $70 million to $300 million.
Putin promised on Tuesday that stadium construction would go ahead regardless of whether Russia hosts the World Cup. The stadiums are "just for the development of sports, for the development of football," he said.
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