FIFA has granted Russia a budget of $699 million to host the 2018 World Cup, a similar amount to that received by South Africa for the 2010 tournament, sports minister Vitaly Mutko said Wednesday.
The sum paid to the Russian organizing committee will cover all the operational costs of staging the tournament, such as travel expenses, media facilities, stewarding and decorating the stadiums, but does not stretch to any construction or infrastructure expenditure.
The budget covers expenses from this year until the end of the tournament year, Mutko said.
“FIFA has provided $699 million, that’s including the year 2018. For the 2010 World Cup approximately the same amount was granted,” he said.
The World Cup is expected to boost Russia’s GDP by 527 billion rubles ($18 billion) and create a million jobs, according to statistics from the organizing committee reported by Russian business daily Vedomosti on Tuesday.
Russia was awarded the World Cup in December 2010, beating a solo bid from England and joint efforts from Spain and Portugal and the Netherlands and Belgium.
The country is to name 11 host cities in September after a summer tour by a FIFA delegation of 13 candidate cities starting Monday.
