FIFA begins third visit to Russia for preparation of 2018 World Cup stadiums

A joint delegation headed by the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) and the organizing committee of "Russia 2018" begins their third visit to World Cup stadiums around the country on Monday.

This visit, which runs until April 14, will includes stadiums in six cities - St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Sochi.

The Sochi site visit will include a virtual tour of future facilities and delegation presentations concerning the future stadium design. Additionally, talks will be held to discuss the possibilities for other stadium sites not yet built in the cities of Kazan, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, and Saransk.

In attendance will be representatives headed by Director General of the organizing committee "Russia-2018" Alexei Sorokin, Director of FIFA's Department for the competition, Colin Smith, and the head of the FIFA World Cup Unit, Chris Unger.

The joint delegation is composed of experts in stadium design, preparation and execution of the competition, security, transport, logistics, hospitality services, television broadcasting, software for media, staff performance, marketing and ticketing programs. This will also include representatives from relevant ministries and departments in Russia.

The visit will not focus on evaluating the progress being made on the construction of stadiums but to discuss the different aspects of work that will take place during the matches.