© AFP
On
14 December 2012, at their latest meeting in Tokyo, the FIFA Executive
Committee approved the Hosting Concept for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™,
with both the Opening Match and Final set to be played at Luzhniki
Stadium in Moscow. The legendary arena will thus join an elite list of
stadiums that have hosted both matches at world football's greatest
competition.
Since Luzhniki Stadium was
first opened in 1956, it has hosted a number of international sports
events, including the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1980 Olympic
Games, the 2008 UEFA Champions League final and the world championships
of a variety of sports. The arena will be closed for major renovation
work in August 2013, before re-opening five years later to reveal its
new image to visitors to Russia 2018.
The
2018 FIFA World Cup Hosting Concept approved by the FIFA Executive
Committee stipulates that Luzhniki will also host one of the
tournament’s semi-finals, while the other will be played in St
Petersburg.
The future stadium in St
Petersburg, which is under construction on Krestovsky Island, will host
the opening match and the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 - according to the FIFA Executive Committee’s decision. The three other venues set to host matches at Russia 2017 are Spartak Moskva's arena and stadiums in Kazan and Sochi.
"The approval of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia
and FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 Hosting Concept is an important
decision that gives the competitions real shape. We anticipate a big and
exciting job organizing a FIFA World Cup that will start a new page in
the history of Russian and world football," said Aleksey Sorokin, CEO of
the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee, after the FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Tokyo.