The Russian government proposed a 2% increase to its budget for the 2018 World Cup on Monday, "reversing a trend of repeated cuts this year," according to the AP. A document written by the Sports Ministry envisages an increase of 12.5B rubles ($175M), taking the budget to 643.8B rubles ($9B). That document and another published Monday "proposed various changes to many training bases that will be built for the tournament, but it was not clear if those changes were responsible for the budget hike." Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who heads Russia's World Cup organizing committee, was keen to play down the change, calling it a mere "rebalancing within the program" rather than an "increase in expenditure" (AP, 8/24).
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| Source: JFA |
JAPAN REVEALS EMBLEM: The official emblem for the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 was unveiled at the headquarters of the Japan FA. The official emblem represents the qualities of Japan, utilizing the recognizable shape of the official trophy of the FIFA Club World Cup as a canvas. As one of the most iconic images of the host nation, the majestic Mount Fuji is featured at the center of the emblem. It is inspired by the traditional "Shodo" calligraphy (FIFA).
