Russia: FIFA drops two cities ahead of 2018 World Cup

source: StadiumDB.com; author: michał

Russia: FIFA drops two cities ahead of 2018 World Cup Yesterday complete list of 11 host cities was presented. Without Krasnodar and Yaroslavl that were dropped despite advancing with their stadium projects. Another venue lost chances in Moscow.

Advertisement

Broadcast live in nationwide TV the selection ceremony was watched on giant screens in 13 cities proposed by Russia as potential hosts for the 2018 World Cup. Most of them enjoyed euphoric reactions as they were kept by FIFA, but two certainly didn't. Below you may see the two stadiums we won't be watching in 2018 and that may now be at risk of remaining on renderings only (no sufficient information as to their fate is available at this time).

Russia's eliminated World Cup venues

These stadia were to be host venues for Krasnodar in the south and Yaroslavl – near Moscow. FIFA's decision seems somewhat surprising as both cities have been progressing with their projects, awarding design to global giants – HKS Architects and Populous, respectively.

Third stadium lost is Moscow-based VTB Arena. Despite already being under construction, this one was most probable not to be taken into account due to the policy of maximum 2 stadia per city. One that was sure in Moscow is the final venue – national stadium at Luzhniki. Second spot went to Stadion Spartak which was favourite over VTB Arena as construction is closer to completion.

FIFA decided to retain the cluster division proposed by Russia in their bid. Northern cluster consists of Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad. Separate cluster for Moscow and another in the centre for Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kazan, Samara and Volgograd. To the south there's Sochi and Rostov with yet another zone and finally the easternmost city – Yekaterinburg.

Advertisement