FIFA Council hails Russia 2018 World Cup as best in history
The FIFA Council has praised the Russia 2018 World Cup as the best in the event’s history, as officials discussed the tournament and its success at a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
Russian Local Organizing Committee chief Alexey Sorokin told TASS that council members had “unanimously” recognized the event as the best in World Cup history.
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“A detailed report on the 2018 World Cup was presented (at the FIFA Council meeting). Colin Smith (FIFA Director of Competitions) submitted a fact-based report on the competition, I also delivered an emotional speech on the World Cup general aspects,” Sorokin told TASS.
“On the whole the 2018 World Cup was unanimously recognized as the best ever in history. This was mentioned in the report which was approved by the Council.
“In many areas, achievements recorded at the previous World Cups were broken. Our innovative initiatives, including free public transport and the Fan ID system, were deemed successful,” he added.
The 2018 World Cup was held at 12 venues in 11 Russian cities from June 14 to July 15, with France lifting the trophy after victory over Croatia in the final at Luzhniki Stadium.
The organization of the tournament was widely praised at the time by football bosses and fans, despite widespread fears spread by the Western press before the event that it would in particular see violent clashes between fans.
In the event, that did not materialize and after the tournament FIFA boss Gianni Infantino hailed it as “the best ever.”
