MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to step up security measures during the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia.
Under the decree, posted on the official Internet portal of legal information, all mass rallies during the FIFA Confederation Cup and the 2018 World Cup must be coordinated with regional departments of the Interior Ministry and security agencies.
Besides, sales of civilian and service weapons, portable firearms, edged weapons, ammunitions and special means will be banned in the areas where tighter security measures are imposed. The National Guard will monitor compliance with the ban.
The ban will also cover sales of explosives and poisonous substances with the exception of those contained in medicines. The decree comes into effect on the day of its publishing.
The FIFA Confederations Cup, which is also viewed by experts as a rehearsal a year prior to the FIFA World Cup, will be held between June 17 and July 2 at four stadiums in Russia which are Spartak Stadium in Moscow, Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg, Fisht Stadium in Sochi and the Kazan Arena in Kazan.
The country selected 11 host cities as the venues for the 2018 World Cup matches and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
The 2018 World Cup matches will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 above-mentioned cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital of Moscow.