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Each 2018 World Cup stadium to host 4 matches — Russian sports minister

The decision will be made together with FIFA, Vitaly Mutko said after a meeting of the Russia-2018 organizing committee in Sochi, one of the tournament's venues

© Artur Lebedev/TASS

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Dates of 2018 World Cup to be named in December

SOCHI, November 21. /TASS/. At least four matches will be held at every of 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Friday.

"The decision will be made together with FIFA," Mutko said after a meeting of the Russia-2018 organizing committee in Sochi, one of the tournament's venues.

The 2018 World Cup matches will be also held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

FIFA Secretary General Gerome Valcke who took part in the meeting praised the Sochi stadium calling it "a beautiful setting for fans."

Valcke also said that the 2018 FIFA World Cup was a sports tournament and should not be mixed up with politics.

Russia won the bid to host the World Cup in 2010. In 2017 Russia will host the FIFA Confederations Cup, a prelude to the championship. According to Mutko, the Confederations Cup matches will be held in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi. The dates of both tournaments will be announced the FIFA Executive Committee's session in Morocco scheduled for December 18-19.

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