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2018 FIFA WORLD CUP IN RUSSIA

Russia to share FIFA World Cup’s organization experience with Qatar

Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 at seven venues across the country

© AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

DOHA, March 4. /TASS/. Russia is ready to share its experience with Qatar in the organization of the international football championship, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"Our countries are cooperating in the sports sphere," Lavrov said at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

"After the successful organization of the [2018 FIFA] World Cup in Russia the next World Cup will be hosted by Qatar in 2022 and we have pointed out that the relevant structures of both countries are maintaining close contacts on this issue," Lavrov said.

Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 at seven venues across the country, namely in Doha, Lusail, Al-Wakrah, Al-Khor, Al-Rayyan, Umm Salal and Madinat ash Shamal.

Qatar won the right to host the matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on December 2, 2010.

In March 2015, FIFA officially announced that the 22nd edition of FIFA’s flagship event would be played in November and December 2022, with the final match set for December 18, 2022 - Qatar National Day - and with the objective, in principle, of holding the tournament for 28 days.

"We will be sharing our experience and giving advice to our friends in Qatar on a better approach to the organization of the international championship taking into account the decisions, which were made during the preparations for the World Cup in Russia and were justified," the Russian foreign minister added.

2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia

Last summer Russia hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a remarkable opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of June 14 and ended with a spectacular final match, played also at the Luzhniki Stadium, where France confidently defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the much-coveted World Cup Trophy.

Read also

Qatar to commission all stadiums two years ahead of 2022 World Cup

Russia selected 11 host cities as the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they were Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

FIFA President Infantino said after the world championship that Russia staged "the best World Cup ever." According to the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, some 2.9 million foreign visitors arrived in Russia last summer for the FIFA World Cup.

In late December, FIFA announced in its statement that the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia set a new record of audience in the history of world football championships as over half of the world’s population watched matches on TV at home, out of home or on digital platforms.

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Sergey Lavrov Qatar 2018 World Cup in Russia

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