The Confederations Cup – a test competition before the 2018 FIFA World Cup – ended on Sunday on a positive note: the final game in St. than the Petersburg hoteliers and organizers expected).
In an interview with Vedomosti, the general director of the Russia-2018 organizing committee, Alexei Sorokin, told how the Confederations Cup went, what conclusions would be drawn after this tournament, and how preparations for the world championship were continuing.
– The 2017 Confederations Cup is over. Summing up the results of the event in hot pursuit – what turned out to be better than your expectations at the Cup, what was on the level and what was worse?
– All our ideas and innovations were implemented very worthily – of course, with the help of federal agencies, we could not have done so much alone. If we talk about the fan’s passport, then this is primarily the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. The provision of security is mainly the power structures. Free trains are a huge role of the Ministry of Transport and Transport Directorate – 2018. Our entire team – the organizing committee, federal departments, regions – worked well and smoothly, all ideas were realized.
You see that if at the final press conference questions are asked about the reports of McLaren and Garcia, it means that there is nothing bad to ask about the organization of the Confederations Cup itself. (Richard McLaren’s report analyzes the use of doping by Russian athletes, Michael Garcia’s report analyzes the process of Russia and Qatar obtaining the rights to host the 2018 and 2022 World Championships – Vedomosti.) Of course, there are drawbacks, but they are all technical: you can , for example, to buy minutes on people’s access to stadiums.
– Confederations Cup – test competition. Based on how it was organized and held, will the following conclusions be drawn: in this aspect, improvement and increased funding for the World Cup is required, but in this we, on the contrary, have overdone it and in a year it will be possible to save money?
– Of course, some decisions will be made – we will have a big meeting with FIFA on this topic. Perhaps we will improve some services for fans. But overall, as a concept, everything worked out well.
– Tell us more about the ideas and innovations that you have implemented.
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