There is "growing concern among Moscow's sports and business elites" about what the ballooning FIFA corruption scandal "may mean for Russia," according to Farchy & Weaver of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Former Russian football club Anzhi Makhachkala Manager German Chistyakov said, "Of course, the situation with Blatter and FIFA can affect the World Cup in Russia. The situation is very unclear and non-transparent." The government has "reacted angrily" to the suggestion that Russia could be stripped of the right to host the 2018 tournament. Deputy Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov warned that if this happened, "then international sport could collapse." At stake is "more than just potential embarrassment and injured pride." Russia has already invested billions of dollars in World Cup preparations, "much of it coming from a federal budget now under severe strain thanks to the fall in oil prices and economic recession." Several of Russia's most prominent oligarchs and businessmen have investments and contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars "tied up in the tournament." The sports ministry has "declined to comment" on how much of the $12.2B budget for the tournament has been spent so far, but according to the plans it has published, expenditures in '13 and '14 should have amounted to $4.6B. University of Zurich Professor of Geography Martin Müller, who researches big sporting events, said that the new Russian stadiums "will be the most expensive of any World Cup." By his estimates, Russia's stadiums will come in at a cost of $11,600 per seat -- "almost double the cost per seat of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil" (FT, 6/11).
