MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. The world’s ruling football body will take the FIFA World Cup trophy on a tour of more than 50 countries ahead of the 2018 tournament to be held in Russia.
This announcement was made in Moscow on Thursday at the presentation of the tour’s route.
The tour organized by FIFA and its partner, Coca Cola, will kick off in Moscow in September 2017.
By December 2017 the trophy will travel to 15 Russian cities. After that it will be shown in 50 countries on six continents.
The trophy will be taken back to Russia in May 2018 and will visit another nine cities before returning to Moscow in June.
About 40 mln Russians (almost one third of the country’s population) are expected to get a glimpse of the trophy made of 18 karat gold.
The trophy was introduced in 1974 and weighs 6.1 kilograms.
The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in 11 Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.