Answering whether the football tournament might be affected by the Olympics doping scandal, Smith stressed that "all players who will participate in the FIFA World Cup will have precompetition testing and then random testing during the tournament," adding that "preparations for the World Cup are very much on track and that is our focus."
READ MORE: Over 4Mln Tickets to 2018 FIFA Cup in Russia Sold Out During 2nd Sales Phase
On December 5, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) over a doping scandal and withdrew the medals won by athletes found guilty of doping usage at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The IOC has allowed "clean" athletes to participate in the upcoming Winter Games under a neutral flag.
Russia will host the FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history from June 14 to July 15. Games of the tournament will be held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Volgograd, and Samara.