100 days to the World Cup: how is Russia 2018 shaping up?

Fifa has provided the usual positive bulletins about uptake, with just under five million having been requested by the end of the January sales window. Just over half of those have come from within Russia; perhaps depressingly, England features outside the top 10 countries for demand, contributing only 57,957 requests to the total. For context the Netherlands, a much smaller country whose side did not qualify for the tournament, made 71,096 requests. This does not, of course, equate to tickets sold and there are still two phases to go. But with international fans’ appetites clearly an issue there will be much focus on making sure local supporters fill the stadiums. In 2014 the average monthly salary in Mordovia, the republic of which Saransk is capital, was £255; it may make Panama v Tunisia, even at prices starting at £16 for Russian citizens in the group stage, something of an extravagance.

The local organising committee is doing its bit to make transport easier by providing fans with free tickets for 728 additional trains between host cities along certain routes and around particular games – although those in a hurry may find faster services available at a cost, particularly on journeys such as Moscow-St Petersburg. Air travel will play a major – and far quicker – part but the extent to which the host cities will be connected to one another remains vague and at present many trips will involve a change in the capital. Of perhaps more concern is the accommodation issue in further-flung cities such as Saransk and Volgograd. These are places that rarely see influxes of foreign visitors and most of those offering lodging have yet to be talked – or legislated – down from offering exorbitant rates that have reached as high as four figures for a night’s stay in a basic, Khrushchev-era apartment. It is a situation that must improve if those fans who make it to these venues are to have a comfortable, safe stay.

Source: theguardian