Sport

Muscovites enter the spirit as Medvedev tweets: 'Hurrah! Victory!'

WORLD CUP 2018/ 2022 BIDDING: MUSCOVITES REACTED joyously last night to the news Russia will host the 2018 World Cup

TOM PARFITT in Moscow
Fri Dec 03 2010 - 00:00

WORLD CUP 2018/ 2022 BIDDING:MUSCOVITES REACTED joyously last night to the news Russia will host the 2018 World Cup. As temperatures outside dipped below -20 degrees, many thousands of viewers were glued to the announcement from Zurich, shown live on Russia's national sports channel, Rossiya 2.

Ilya Kazakov, the presenter of Russia’s version of Match of the Day, choked with emotion as Sepp Blatter held up the card saying Russia was the victor. “This is a great honour and a huge responsibility,” he gulped. Cameras zoomed in on the billionaire tycoon Roman Abramovich embracing Alexei Sorokin, the chief executive of Russia’s bid, and other members of the team.

The show quickly segued into Russia’s signature clip of a great football field spreading out across the country, zipping past the Winter Palace in St Petersburg and the Christ the Saviour cathedral in Moscow. There were scenes of gambolling children and ballet dancers doing keepie-uppies. The word “Pobeda!” (Victory!) was emblazoned across the bottom of the screen.

Shortly after the announcement the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, tweeted: “Hurrah! Victory! We will host the 2018 World Cup! Now we must get ready. And, of course, play well.”

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Part of Moscow’s joy at winning stems from a widely held belief that the English media deliberately tried to blacken Russia’s bid. The prime minister, Vladimir Putin, said on Wednesday that members of the Fifa executive committee had been “compromised and smeared in dirt”. Putin, who had raised hopes of an England victory by staying away from the announcement, was due to fly in to Zurich to give a press conference last night. He told reporters in Moscow he had never lost faith Russia would win. “This confidence was based on the fact Russia is in a position to host the world championship,” Putin said. “You will remember that soccer was played even during the Great Patriotic War (second World War), even in besieged Leningrad.”

Russia’s bid includes a huge building programme, expected to cost €3 billion. Of its 16 proposed stadiums only three are existing ones that will be refurbished. Moscow is committed to spending about €6 billion on the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Dmitry Simonov, an observer with the Sport Express newspaper, singled out Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin, a member of the country’s delegation, for special praise. “He didn’t mess up and in the face of the glitzy-person, (David) Beckham, he gave a very human presentation,” Simonov wrote.

  • Guardian Service