Shame or success? What will be waiting for Russian in 2017 Confederation Cup?

Stadiums are fine. Almost

Stadiums are the main thing while organising competitions of that calibre. If the Englishmen still cannot put up with the fact that Russia got the World Cup, two stadiums – in Samara and Saint Petersburg – cause discontent in our country.

Kazan Production and Construction Association is working at Cosmos Arena as a contractor general. Due to a considerable schedule slippage, the Tatarstan company could lose a contract with Samara. However, the vice-Prime Minister of Russia Igor Shuvalov left Kazan Production and Construction Association 'at the wheel' of the project in July. At the moment the project is optimised. And it seems there are no problems.

The situation with the Petersburg stadium is more complicated and even funnier. Its contractor general has changed several times, deadlines were postponed. At first Valentina Matvienko told Zenit was to play its first match even in March 2009. Almost 7 years ago! Of course, the project is very difficult there. And it will one of the best stadiums in the world. But now jokes about the construction of the stadium on Krestovsky Island have started to be used by the population as well as a witty remark about Spartak's championship.

Jokes about the construction of the stadium on Krestovsky Island have started to be used by the population as well as a witty remark about Spartak's championship. Photo: dp.ru

Aleksey Sorokin told us about the course of the construction and preparation of the stadiums at the meeting with journalists.

'No, there is no concern. There are delays in the construction of the stadium in Samara. The situation of many stadiums has improved. Saint Petersburg has gathered a good pace. There is no panic. In Samara, there are small delays, but there is no concern. The deadline is December 2017. There is one year for construction. There were slips. But now the pace is satisfactory.

Only two stadiums will be ready 7 months before the kick-off of the Confederation Cup. When will test matches take place in Saint Petersburg and Sochi?

'Test matches are to take place in spring next year. The construction ends this year. Some re-equipment might be in January. Then test matches will start. We are waiting for the final schedule of matches of the national team of Russia in 2017 issued by the Russian Football Union in order to plan everything. We would like our national team to play in the greatest number of the new stadiums. Saint Petersburg will host such a match, of course. We hope Sochi also will host it. We are obliged to play three test matches at full load at each new stadium. Saint Petersburg won't have problems with it, while in Sochi the situation is a bit different. But we will have several events there.'

Tatarstan is ready for the Confederation Cup and World Cup

Many functionaries have already said many times that Kazan was the leader in the preparation for the Confederation Cup and World Cup. This estimation was got due to the events and competitions that took place – from the Universiade to the FINA World Championships.

Now Kazan will have to host the draw of the Confederation Cup, which will be on 26 November in the Kazan Tennis Academy. It is one of the largest modern tennis venues in Europe. Sorokin told about the preparation for this event too.

Aleksey Sorokin: 'The preparation is keeping to the schedule. Nowadays we don't see any delay or difficulties'.

'We are having a short business trip within the scope of the preparation for the draw of the 2017 Confederation Cup, which will be on 26 November. Little time has left. Then we will have the final draw planned for 1 December 2017. Our goal is to visit all the venues used in the organisation of the event. The very draw is co-organised with a meeting of the Confederation Cup's Committee, teams' seminar and a banquet. In other words, we have four events that will be held during two days. There are many venues – Tennis Academy, Badminton Centre, City Hall, Korston hotel, etc. Today we will visit these facilities, define the key working moments together with our colleagues from Tatarstan. The preparation is keeping to the schedule. Nowadays we don't see any delay or difficulties.'

Then Leonov told about the Confederation Cup and things connected with it:

'We won't reveal all the secrets. Aleksey Leonidovich [Editor's Note: Sorokin] would have told it if it was public information. I will repeat that we have been preparing this event and the facilities for a long time. We have experience in organising similar events. This is why logistics, economy, volunteers' work are important. We don't doubt that everything be at a high level. Everything that is needed from Tatarstan and Kazan will be prepared. We are preparing this event in tandem with Russia-2018 Organising Committee because it is one of the first events among the others that we will have: the draw of the Confederation Cup, the very Cup where Kazan will have a direct participation. Kazan-Arena has reached a long-awaited state it should have. There is a number of nuances connected with a temporary infrastructure. It doesn't cause concerns. The draw that the elite of the world football like FIFA and our heads will visit is the most important event today. The presenter's name is not made public yet. Sorry (smiling).'

According to Sorokin, 'the chairman of the Organising Committee has had a higher post in the government. It will give us an advantage.' Photo: Oleg Tikhonov

Mutko's new post won't affect the preparation for the World Cup

We could not help but talk about the preparation of our country for the 2018 WC. It is already known that the World Cup takes place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018.

Vitaly Mutko's new post was also mentioned. The Minister of Sport became the vice-Prime Minister. Now he will be responsible for sport, tourism and youth affairs. Pavel Kolobkov has been appointed as a new minister. Sorokin answered whether the new appointments would affect the preparation for the 2018 WC.

'We don't think it will affect the preparation. On the contrary, the chairman of the Organising Committee has had a higher post in the government. It will give us an advantage. His supervision of other two areas linked with the 2018 WC is another pleasant news. We count on the young while preparing the volunteers. We will need about 20,000 volunteers in total. Tourism has a direct connection with the World Cup for a known reason. This is why there are only advantages.'

We also asked questions about the logistics. Vladimir Leonov answered them in detail:

Is it known where the teams will stay?

Sure. We designated hotels that will host the teams in each city. But don't ask me to enumerate them now (smiling). There is a great number of hotels. 24 hotels and 70 training bases in total. All the hotels were designated, but not all of them have been built. I don't mean only Tatarstan, I am speaking in general. There are hotels we need to build and that we plan to use for accommodation of the major client groups. We hope everything will be completed. We have about 11 hotels whose construction we need to complete.

What kind of state of the training base of Kazan is in?

We monitor it every week. We have construction meetings on a regular basis. We decided to not to bother the Central Stadium because it is fine. Electron and Rubin are also having a good pace. We want the field to winter, so that tests and training will start from spring. It is all needed to be ready for the Confederation Cup.

Vladimir Leonov: 'We want the field to winter, so that tests and training will start from spring'.

Kazan is ready, what about the others?

In general, we can say now that the country is almost ready to host the 2017 Confederation Cup and 2018 World Cup. Some organisational problems are to be solved in the short run, and the construction of the stadiums must meet the deadline.

Undoubtedly, many fans are still dissatisfied with the decision to grant Saransk the right to hold the World Cup, not Krasnodar or Yekaterinburg, and not Yaroslavl at least. If there is no force majeure, everything will be in the best possible way. If not, there will be one typical excuse: 'This is Russia! What did you want?'