Expenses For World Cup 2018 Continue To Increase

Expenses For World Cup 2018 Continue To Increase

Russia is already making preparations to host the World Cup 2018 as the most-watched sports event wraps up in Rio de Janiero.

With four years to go before the next tournament, it appears that Moscow has yet to learn the lessons from hosting the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. The Sochi games were considered as the most expensive Winter Olympics in history, and it appears the next World Cup will have a similar reputation.

The projected expenses of the tournament are already over the $20 billion mark, which makes it the most expensive World Cup in history.

Twelve stadiums spread across eleven cities will host the games for the World Cup 2018. Two stadiums will be located in Moscow while other venues include Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg. A number of stadiums will be built from scratch and others will be upgraded to increase the number of seats as well as renovate the interior.

A number of the renovations are reportedly questionable. The Luzhniki Stadium is undergoing renovations in the interior even as the façade will be maintained. The Central Stadium of Yekaterinburg was renovated in 2011 and will undergo another one for the tournament.

University of Zurich’s Martin Muller said the cost of renovating the Luzhniki Stadium is higher than the budget of Brazil and Germany, which hosted the event in 2006. He indicated the event amplifies the problems experienced by old Russia instead of creating a new image for the country.

The budget of the country is expected to suffer due to the expenses for the tournament.

However, problems are expected to emerge even after the end of the tournament. Sochi became ghost town after the end of the Winter Olympics. The structures were empty and no feasible plans were made to use them.

The venues for the World Cup 2018 are expected to provide a reminder of lavishness after the end of the games in 2018.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday July 14 2014, 8:37 AM EST. Ref: ABC News. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0