Russia to host 2018 World Cup

Russia won the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup after a vote by the FIFA executive committe in Zurich on Thursday.

The announcement was made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter following a secret ballot by the 22 members of the organisation’s executive committee in Zurich on Thursday.

It comes after weeks of last-minute lobbying and intense media speculation.

After firming as one of the favourites – alongside England – early in the process, Russia had slipped behind the joint-bid of Spain and Portugal after the South American Football Confederation threw its support behind the Iberian effort.

Further blows were struck with the release of an unfavourable technical report, which was critical of logistical and transport problems in a country the size of Russia.

Later, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declined to travel to Zurich for the crucial final days ahead of the vote.

However, Russia shook off the doubts to beat out the more fancied English and Iberian bids, as well as another joint bid from Belgium and the Netherlands.

Russia, which has never hosted the tournament before, enjoyed their greatest success on the international scene since the demise of the Soviet Union with a semi-final appearance in the 2008 European Championships.

The Russian bid chairman, Vitaly Mutko, stressed the symbolic importance of hosting the tournament in the former USSR.

“You can see on the map, western Europe hosted the World Cup many times, eastern Europe never had the chance,” Mutko said.

“Many years ago the Berlin Wall was destroyed, a new era for the world began, today we can break another symbolic wall and open another era in football together.