MOSCOW, October 13. / TASS/. A commission of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) will inspect stadiums in major Russian cities that will host the 2018 World Cup, the tournament's organizers said Monday.

A total of 40 FIFA inspectors will visit stadiums in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi from October 16 to 20. On October 21-23, they will take virtual tours of other stadiums.

Alexey Sorokin, the head of the World Cup Russia organizing committee, said that it would be a milestone visit symbolising transition from planning to the operational stage of the tournament's preparations.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup matches will be held at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities, Moscow, St.Petersburg, Kazan, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Samara and Rostov-on-Don.