Question marks over whether the 2018 World Cup hosting "would make it to
Kaliningrad have been dispelled" by Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko,
who said that matches will not be "transferred to another city from
Kaliningrad," according to Paul Nicholson of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. In November, Mutko had said it was possible
Kaliningrad "could be pulled from the hosting list," but after Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped in saying that plans for the city
"needed to be completed" by Dec. 17, it seems the World Cup in '18 "will
not drop to 10 cities from the planned 11." And if help is needed
to realize the project, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said that his
country is "on hand to aid with preparations." Alexander Zhukov, a vice-president in the Duma, said that Oktiabrskij
Island in Kaliningrad is the "optimal place to build the stadium." Zhukov believes that the development in the city will leave a "serious
legacy, and that while building on Oktiabrskij Island will cost more, it
would bring less disruption for residents than building on the old
arena in the city" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 12/3).
