The President will inspect construction work underway on sports facilities and infrastructure for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and will hold a joint meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport and the Russia 2018 Organising Committee on preparations for hosting the World Cup.
This will be the first time that the council is devoting a meeting entirely to one particular sport – football, which is played by more than 2.5 million people in Russia.
The meeting will look at measures for expanding football infrastructure, including through federal targeted programmes, and will discuss the formation of new financing sources and the development of professional football in Russia, including ways to increase income from spectator numbers at matches.
Also on the agenda are ways to reinvigorate fans’ interest in Russia’s national championship, Russian clubs’ insufficiently high results on the international stage, training the national team, and ensuring security during football matches.