Will Russia Be Ready to Host the 2018 World Cup?

Sure, the Brazilian 2014 World Cup is only few short months away, but it will come and go quicker than most of us would want to admit which leaves us only looking forward to 2018 and Russia’s opportunity to host a World Cup. Yes, it’s four years away, but there are going to be some major discussions taking place and questions arising that will beg to be answered in the coming months - namely, can Russia handle the enormous duties of hosting a World Cup? This is obviously a loaded question, and I don’t claim to have an answer, but for the sake of discussion, let’s take a look at some of the issues at hand here.

Using the present as an indicator for future problems

First off, Brazil - which, by most accounts, is better off financially and in a more stable area of the world (at least right now) than Russia is still putting together the final touches on some of their stadiums which need to be hosting games this June. The deadlines for stadium completion have come and gone, yet work continues 24 hours a day on some venues. They’ve had years to get ready for this, and have even suffered some major setbacks, including multiple deaths at the stadium being constructed in Manaus. FIFA has went so far as to openly question whether or not Brazil should have been awarded the Cup. Will they pull it off? As fans of the game, we can only hope it goes by without a hitch.

I’ve said all that to say this: if Brazil can’t handle it with their economy and infrastructure, how can Russia possibly be capable of handling this enormous undertaking? My skepticism started with their well publicised issues getting the Sochi Winter Olympics to happen. By most accounts, the games went off pretty well with only a few glitches here and there, but the World Cup is a much bigger event - requiring stadiums all over the country and transportation systems capable of handling millions of additional tourists crawling out of the woodwork. I’m not belittling the Winter games, but in the grand scheme of things they are a much more isolated event with far fewer spectators than the biggest sporting event in the world.

Problems for fans getting to the games?

Next, who will actually be able to get to these games? I’ve heard more than a few horror stories about getting visas for Russia. I know that FIFA generally requires host nations to provide free visas for ticket holders, which will be nice - but I highly doubt that the load of paperwork required to get in will be lessened in the slightest. Yeah, I’ll fill it out still, but Russia is notoriously hard to get into these days. I’m not saying that will be a problem, but it could be for many.

Rumor has it that thirteen cities will be hosting games in 2018, which is more than Brazil is using this time around. Thirteen cities in the biggest country on the planet that covers some 6.5 million square miles means that fans, teams and TV crews will all be traveling a lot during their stay in the former Soviet Union.

Political issues

Finally, Russia finds themselves in a very volatile part of the world with tension remaining extremely high with the Ukrainians. I doubt a war starts, but you never know. One wrong move on either side could literally and figuratively explode things on both sides. In four years, this conflict might be nothing more than a memory, but the high potential of political instability in the region remains a factor nonetheless.

As I stated earlier, all of these things are potential issues and it remains to be seen how Russia will address these and other questions in the coming years. Visiting Russia would be an absolute thrill and seeing a few World Cup games in the process would be icing on the cake. Here’s hoping they go all out now, and find a way to do it for less than 50 billion dollars this time.