‘FIFA satisfied with Russia’s 2018 World Cup preparations’

Global football’s governing body FIFA) is completely satisfied with the way Russia is preparing to host the 2018 World Cup, the director general of the Local Organising committee (LOC) Russia-2018 Alexei Sorokin said on Wednesday.

“There is no criticism on behalf of FIFA at all,” Sorokin said, reports Tass.

The authorities of St. Petersburg provided FIFA with guarantees that currently under -construction Zenit Arena in Russia’s second largest city will be commissioned in due time, the LOC director general went on to say.

Sorokin’s claim comes on a day when FIFA officially acknowledged that bribes were paid during the election of the host countries for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, held in France and South Africa respectively.

The facts of bribery were stated by the world’s governing body of football in its 21-page letter sent to the United States authorities as part of the major corruption case involving FIFA officials.