MOSCOW, July 14 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia will not reduce the number of stadiums chosen to host FIFA World Cup games in 2018, Russia-2018 Organising Committee Director-General Alexei Sorokin told ITAR-TASS on Monday, July 14.

The statement followed by FIFA President Joseph Blatter’s remarks made earlier in the day that the number of stadiums to host the World Cup 2018 in Russia might be reduced from 12 to 10.

He said it was important to take into account how the infrastructure was used after the championship and cited South Africa as an example, where three stadiums built for the purpose were not used at all.

Blatter admitted it was a problem and expressed hope that this would not happen in Russia which is a football country.

He is planning to visit Russia in September to meet with members of the World Cup 2018 Organising Committee to discuss whether the number of stadiums should be reduced from 12 to 10.

The World Cup 2018 games will be played in 11 Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov on Don, and Sochi.