Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held secret meetings with “at least a third” of the 24-member FIFA executive committee, which granted Russia the rights to hold its first World Cup in 2018, the agency’s former vice president Vyacheslav Koloskov said.
Koloskov, also a former head of the Russian Football Union and a member of Russia’s bidding committee for the World Cup, did not elaborate on Putin’s meetings with FIFA officials, but said in an interview published in Sport-Express on Monday that they confirmed the prime minister’s commitment to Russia’s bid.
(MT)