The FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 stadiums in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Sochi and Moscow, where the continental champions will face off in just three and a half months' time from 17 June to 2 July, have passed their final inspections. The operational readiness of all venues and the customisation of their infrastructure were verified by a joint delegation from FIFA and the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee (LOC) led by FIFA Director of Competitions Colin Smith and LOC CEO Alexey Sorokin at the end of February/early March.
The joint delegation included experts in stadium preparation, competition management, security, transport, logistics, hospitality services, TV broadcasting, media function support, HR, marketing and ticketing program implementation. From 27 February to 2 March these experts, as well as the representatives of relevant ministries and agencies, visited St. Petersburg Stadium, Kazan Arena, Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi and Spartak Stadium in Moscow.
All of these stadiums are currently undergoing the preparation of the complementary infrastructure required for FIFA Confederations Cup matches.
Kazan Arena and Spartak Stadium have been hosting football matches for years, while St. Petersburg Stadium recently welcomed its first spectators during test events. Top class football matches will be staged there for the first time in April when Zenit St. Petersburg host opponents in the Russian Premier League. The venue received the appraisal of Carles Puyol, a FIFA World Cup™ winner with Spain, who joined the expert delegation and spoke well of the stadium. The first match to be held in Fisht Stadium in Sochi, meanwhile, will be on 28 March, when Russia will entertain Belgium.
“There are just over 100 days to go until the start of FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, so this visit was a great opportunity for the experts and professionals from the LOC and FIFA to get together and discuss issues concerning the movement of groups inside the stadium, the organisational details of fans’ entry and exit and so on,” commented Colin Smith on the results of the visit. “I like all the stadiums we visited. It is very important to ensure the surroundings of the venues are ready, so that the fans feel comfortable.”
“It was our final inspection tour immediately preceding the Confederations Cup, the last chance for all experts to come together and see how the preparations for the tournament are going directly at the stadiums, to tackle all operational issues,” said Alexey Sorokin. “In general, we are happy with the progress achieved at the Confederations Cup venues. Thanks to the participation of local authorities, huge work has been completed.”
From 3-4 March, via a virtual tour and presentations in Moscow, a joint delegation of FIFA and the LOC was also able to assess the updated operational plans of all the other World Cup venues in Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Moscow (Luzhniki Stadium), Yekaterinburg, Saransk and Kaliningrad.
The FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 kicks off on 17 June. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi will host 16 games featuring the top teams from all continents - Chile, Australia, Cameroon, Mexico, New Zealand and Portugal, as well as World Cup champions Germany and host nation Russia. The tournament final will take place on 2 July at St. Petersburg Stadium.
The second sales phase for the Confederations Cup tickets began on 1 March via FIFA.com/tickets. Tickets are being sold on a first-come, first-served basis, which means that – unlike in the previous sales window – they will be allocated as a real-time transaction to the ticket applicants.
As requested by Russian authorities, to attend matches at the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 you need to obtain a Fan ID. Please apply for your Fan ID at www.fan-id.ru using your Request ID number, which you can find in your Ticket Confirmation email.
Each individual needs to obtain only one personalised Fan ID, irrespective of the number of matches that will be attended or the number of ticket applications submitted.
FIFA does not assume any liability or responsibility in respect of the application, issuance and use of such identification documents (Fan ID).