Putin to meet with FIFA President Infantino in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting on Monday in Moscow with Gianni Infantino, the president of the world’s governing football body, FIFA, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. 

According to Peskov, the Russian leader and the FIFA chief will discuss a wide range of issues, including the heritage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as well as the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Moscow this summer.

"Gianni Infantino will be in the Kremlin today. There are numerous issues on the agenda and among them are definitely the issues of the [2018 FIFA] World Cup heritage as well as the cooperation with Russia regarding the next World Cup [2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar]," TASS cited the spokesman as saying.

He said that "the previous country [to host the World Cup] always shares its experience of its tournament organization [with the next host]. Our cooperation with Qatar is at a very good level in this regard."

Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 at eight stadiums in seven cities across the country, namely in Doha, Lusail, Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Umm Salal and Madinat ash Shamal.

"Moreover, Russia had been granted the right to host the [2021 FIFA] Beach Soccer World Cup and this tournament is scheduled to be held in Russia in August," Peskov continued. "This issue will be also discussed between Putin and Infantino."