Joint delegation of representatives from FIFA and Russia-2018 Organising Committee has visited the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium under construction

On April 6, 2016, the joint delegation of representatives from FIFA and Russia-2018 Organising Committee has visited the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium under construction as part of the operational visit with regard to preparation of stadiums for 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia™.

“The Nizhny Novgorod Stadium will host a Round of 8 game and a quarter-final, that’s why, of course, both the stadium and the city attract special attention, we can see with our own eyes that construction is in full swing”, - noted CEO of Russia-2018 Organising committee Alexey Sorokin.

“The delegation is checking the stadium construction site for compliance with the plans and drawings. We have split into several groups, each checking its own zone on the stadium. There is a schedule of work execution at the stadium, strictly controlled by the Russia-2018 Organising Committee and the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region together with the contractor. We are sure that the schedule will be finished on time, and in two years we will witness games of the 2018 World Cup in Nizhny Novgorod”, - says Director of Sporting Competition Department of International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Colin Smith.

“All construction and installation works at the facility will be finished in May 2017, then facility commissioning will commence. According to the contract, the facility shall be finished in December 2017, but we, as already stated earlier, plan to commission it ahead of schedule – in September”, - says Deputy Director General for Construction of JSC STG Vyacheslav Velichko.

Deputy Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Dmitri Svatkovskiy noted that more than 60 facilities are being built and upgraded in the region under the preparation program. “The infrastructural dash is the main thing the tournament will leave for us. It is the new stadium which will host not only sports events. It is the new already operating airport, highly praised last week by President Vladimir Putin. It is the new metro station “Strelka”, which will increase the passenger traffic of the Nizhny Novgorod subway by a quarter. These are new sports bases and football fields where our children will train”.

The Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, designed for 45 000 seats, will host matches of the group stage, a Round of 8 game and a quarter-final of the FIFA 2018 World Cup™ in Russia. In future the stadium will be used as a multifunctional complex to host various mass events. On April 6 an inspection visit of FIFA and Russia-2018 Organising Committee took place in Nizhny Novgorod.