Oligarchs could fund controversial choice of tournament host…
Vladimir Putin is set to call on the owners of Chelsea and Arsenal to help Russia fund the 2018 World Cup tournament.
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The country currently finds itself in economic turmoil due to a slumping economy and the Russian president is set to ask billionaires Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov to bankroll the competition, reports Independent.
Russia is struggling to find the funds to fulfil their plans for the tournament and the country’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko has already said that the $22 billion budget put aside for the event will already be cut by 10 per-cent.
Sepp Blatter has also said that a number of venues could be changed and ultimately reduced.
Whilst Mutko didn’t go as far as to confirm Blatter’s comments he did say Russia would be looking to private donors to bankroll the World Cup.
And the Independent site sources as saying this means Putin will request assistance from Abramovich and Usmanov as he did when Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.