World Football Insider: “Russia to Launch Putin Charm Offensive in World Cup Bid Battle”
(WFI) Russia's World Cup bid leaders believe Prime Minister Vladimir Putin can have a similar impact on the outcome of the 2018 race as he had on the 2014 Winter Olympics contest when he shows up in Zurich ahead of the FIFA vote on Dec. 2.
Vitaly Mutko, the country's sports minister, tells INSIDER he is «confident enough» in the bid's campaign progress. Asked about Putin's presence in Zurich, he said: «You are in for some surprises on that.»
Putin is credited with helping Sochi secure the Olympics after launching a charm offensive in Guatamala City in the Russian bid's lobbying push just 24 hours before the IOC vote in 2007.
He is expected to be part of the Russian World Cup bid delegation travelling to the Swiss city for the FIFA Ex-co's decision on the host cities for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
«He is a person who has impact the very moment he walks into a room,» Russian bid CEO Alexey Sorokin told reporters at a Moscow briefing today.
«I think he will have a big impact.
«It is always a boost when the leader of the government can say 'I guarantee'.
«But it's not over until the final presentation is done.»
Sorokin declined to place too much importance on the final bid presentation to the 24 members of the FIFA Executive Committee on Dec. 2, claiming there were many elements of the bid process that had to be achieved to a high standard.
«Every component of your bid if done badly can seriously damage it,» he said. «Maybe a great final presentation cannot make a big turn in people's voting.
«But a bad presentation can certainly lose a couple of votes, and people hesitating may not go for you.»
Sorokin told INSIDER he was «very confident without complacency» at this stage of the bid race.
His comments came at a briefing held at Luzhniki Stadium, home to Spartak Moscow. The venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field events at the 1980 Olympics is being upgraded to 89,300 seats under World Cup bid plans. The pitch would be lowered and the running track ripped out to make way for extra seating.
Russia's bid proposes 16 stadiums in 13 host cities. Four stadia in the Moscow area would stage games; 13 new venues are planned.
Mutko, speaking to reporters at a separate briefing at the headquarters of Russia's national sports daily, Sport Express, also underlined Putin's importance to the bid in the coming 72 days of campaigning.
He pointed to the three additional guarantees to FIFA signed off by the Russian PM last month. The government has guaranteed construction of all necessary stadiums, promised to waive visas for foreign fans with tickets for World Cup games and committed to providing free rail and road transport between host cities for ticket holders.
«Mr Putin is fully supportive of our bid. He is always aware of how things are progressing,» Mutko said.
Putin is kept informed on all aspects of the bid by Igor Shuvalov, Russia's first deputy prime minister and World Cup bid co-chairman, who has government oversight of the project.
«As to our tactics of what's going to be done on December 2 [in Zurich], let me abstain,» Mutko said.
Mutko admitted that he was feeling the burden of responsibility to deliver a successful bid, in a year when he has been under fire for Russia's dismal performance at the Vancouver Olympics. Russia won just three golds, five silvers and seven bronzes to finish 11th in the overall table - it was the country's worst ever performance at a Winter Games.
«I do feel it [pressure],» he said.
As sports minister and a member of the FIFA Ex-co, he said: «That is a heavy load I am carrying. There is so much to do. My responsibilities are great.»
England, Holland-Belgium and Spain-Portugal along with the USA are in the bid race for the 2018 tournament. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has strongly hinted that the tournament will be awarded to a European bid, leaving the USA to fight it out for the 2022 World Cup with Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.
Russian bid seeks to woo African votes
Sorokin left Moscow this evening on a flight bound for Cairo, Egypt. On Wednesday, he will make the bid's first presentation to members of the Confederation of Africa Football's executive committee.
It will be a similar pitch to the ones Russia made to the executive boards of the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF earlier this year.
«We still have a lot to say,» Sorokin said, adding that the government's additional guarantees would be conveyed in the message to CAF.
«We all know the importance of African votes since they do not come from confederations that are bidding. They are very important for everybody.»
A bid delegation is heading to Brazil next week to meet with the head of the country's football federation, Ricardo Teixeira.
Sorokin is also planning to meet two other South American FIFA Ex-co members before the end of October. Talks with CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz and Argentina FA chief Julio Grondona are scheduled.
«I believe in conversations, I am an old-fashioned person in that respect,» he said.
Russia bid chiefs held meetings with many of the 24 FIFA Ex-co members in the week leading up to the World Cup in South Africa when the FIFA Congress was staged in Johannesburg.
«It was very interesting and we felt that not many of them were sceptical about a World Cup in Russia,» Sorokin commented.
Not all ex-co members have been targeted, but both Sorokin and Mutko hope to remedy that before the time of the FIFA vote.
Mutko is also playing an active part in wooing FIFA Ex-co members. «I am going to personally meet with all Latin American colleagues by December 2,» he confirmed today.
INSIDER travelled to Russia as a guest of the bid team which is paying for the trip.
Mark Bisson
