Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a FIFA delegation Tuesday that Russia will waive visa requirements for participants if it wins hosting rights for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
Nine candidates, including England and the United States, are seeking to host the competition in either year, and FIFA is currently touring the bidding nations ahead of a decision Dec. 2.
“We are ready to extend extra, governmental guarantees on visa-free entry for participants and guests of the World Cup,” Putin told the visiting delegation at his residence outside Moscow.
Russia has axed visa requirements for sports events before, allowing Manchester United and Chelsea fans arriving for the 2008 Champions League final to simply show their tickets at passport control.
The head of the inspection committee, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, welcomed the idea as “extremely important.”
Russia is vowing to construct all facilities from scratch, except the venue for the final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. Putin on Tuesday extolled the virtues of the clean slate approach, which also helped Russia secure the rights to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
The city’s Olympic facilities, now half-built, were barely in blueprints when the International Olympic Committee granted Russia the hosting rights at a ceremony in Guatemala in 2007.
Putin also said the construction of world-class football stadiums will go ahead regardless of whether Russia is granted hosting rights, co-funded out of state coffers and private investment.
FIFA’s visit to Russia ends Thursday, when the inspection team will have visited four potential host cities of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and Sochi.
Also bidding for either tournament are Belgium-Netherlands and Spain-Portugal. Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea are applying for 2022 only.
The inspection team has already visited Japan, South Korea, Australia and Belgium-Netherlands. England is next on the agenda, beginning Aug. 23.
