The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ is just around the corner and representatives of all 32 participating countries met in the Host Nation to learn more about Russia’s organisation of the tournament.

On 27 and 28 February the delegates gathered in the southern city of Sochi to receive detailed information on the upcoming competition.

The workshop is one of the most important stages of tournament preparations. It is vital for delegates to obtain information necessary for their stay in the country during the World Cup and to resolve any questions they might have about the organisation of the event.

A series of informative sessions were held covering different aspects of the upcoming tournament, from security to technical issues as well as transport and marketing.

Russia head coach Stanislav Cherchesov underlined the importance of the event and highlighted some of the key elements: "It was a useful workshop. We started off by discussing technical aspects that could help us during the games and then we were informed about the potential refereeing innovations. We were also told about various topics related to the organisation of the competition."

Furthermore, the seminar was an opportunity for the teams to learn more about Russia and to better understand the efforts of the Local Organising Committee in ensuring the tournament meets its customary high standards.

In total, over 250 delegates from the 32 participating teams took part in the workshop.

They all departed satisfied with the information they had received, including Sweden head coach Janne Andersson.

"It was very well organised. It's my first time at a World Cup so I was able to hear lots of interesting things about the tournament. There was lots of very useful information. The more you know about your job, the better your chances of being successful. On top of that, being in Russia and being involved in this was very pleasant."