The teams of Russia and Ukraine will “separate” each other at the 2018 World Cup
London - Kyiv, October 29 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - Russia and Ukraine will be separated into different groups if Ukraine gets to the 2018 World Cup and relations between the countries do not improve, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.
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Blatter flew to Moscow to present the official emblem of the World Cup in Russia. At a press conference, the FIFA president, The Guardian reports, firmly stated that the political situation in the world should not influence sports.
Sepp Blater refused to move the tournament from Russia to another country due to the conflict in Ukraine, even despite the great pressure put on him personally. “A boycott will not do anything good. FIFA fully supports the World Cup in Russia,” said 78-year-old Sepp Blater. “When we received letters from the United States, we replied that this is football, not politics. We believe in Russia and its government."
“The media should help us with this. We experienced similar pressure during the Olympics in Sochi. However, during and after the Winter Games there was not a single significant bad word about the quality of the Olympics. Russia is the largest country in the world. You know that Russia is in the center of attention of the world press. Football can not only unite Russia, but can also show the whole world that it is more effective than any sanctioned political movement,” he said.
Blatter said he was pleased with Russia's preparations for the tournament.
“Compared to Brazil’s preparation for the 2014 World Cup, Russia is significantly ahead of it.”
The exact dates of the tournament are not yet known and will be confirmed no later than the beginning of 2015. It is preliminary known that the tournament will be held from June 8 to July 8, 2018.
At a press conference, Sepp Blater said that if Ukraine passes the World Cup qualification, and relations between Ukraine and Russia do not improve, they will be separated in the standings into different groups.
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