Russia's relative lack of modern stadiums is an advantage in its bid to host the FIFA World Cup as the tournament would enhance football infrastructure in the country, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Thursday.
Russia is competing with England, Australia, the United States, Spain and Portugal and Belgium and the Netherlands to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Japan, South Korea and Qatar are bidding just for the second tournament.
"They already have stadiums, the experience of hosting big competitions," Shuvalov said at a news conference, adding that Russia would have to create the sports infrastructure from the scratch.
Shuvalov said that although Russia's lack of experience is widely considered a disadvantage, he saw it as the positive sign.
"Given the rights to host the World Cup, Russia would be able to do more than anyone else," the first deputy prime minister said. He said the tournament would also have a greater role expanding the sport's popularity in Russia than elsewhere.
Such rationale played a role in UEFA awarding Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine, but the latter's struggles to build the infrastructure, such as stadiums, transport facilities and hotel capacity, have led to doubts about its ability to host the tournament.
Russia could also be hurt by its failure to qualify for this summer's World Cup in South Africa. Of the other bidders, the only absentees this summer are Belgium, which hopes to reprise its co-hosting of Euro 2000 with the Netherlands, and Qatar.
FIFA will appoint hosts for 2018 and 2022 World Cups on December 2. The 2018 tournament is expected to be given to a European bidder, meaning the 2022 event would be held on a different continent.
MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti)
