Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his delight at the country's win, adding: “We now have to prepare for the championship. And of course, perform well there.”
Later, he addressed Russian citizens: “I congratulate you on this great victory. Russia received the right to host the World Cup. I congratulate all Russian football fans – this is a large multimillion person army. I congratulate those who have been dealing with organization of our bidding, those who protected our interests. And now what we have to do is to prepare. We have to prepare seriously. Of course, we will have the experience of Olympics 2014, but nonetheless it is a large and significant contest. Everybody will be preparing to build the sport infrastructure, and our football players have to prepare as well, because we can not so far boast about our brilliant successes at the world championships. But, since we have won the right to host the championship in Moscow, this really places a huge responsibility on our team. And I am sure that our football players will do their utmost to show the best results here in Moscow.”Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to Zurich in person to thank the FIFA Executive Committee members for giving Russia the opportunity to host the 2018 Football World Cup.This decision means Russia is trusted, said Putin, promising the country’s authorities will do everything they can to ensure the championship is held at a worthy level.The Prime Minister also said he had no doubts the bid would be successful, as Russia is well-known for loving football.“You will remember that soccer was played even during the Great Patriotic War, even in besieged Leningrad. That says a lot," Putin told reporters.Of course, there is a lot of work ahead – stadiums, hotels and roads have yet to be constructed."That was precisely the advantage of our bid, because it means the development of world football, but it also means the development of the sports, road and transport infrastructure of our country, the infrastructure that will be used not only by footballers and sports fans, but all Russians," said Putin.