The 2018 FIFA World Cup has helped to change Russia’s image in the world, chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Russia-2018 Arkady Dvorkovich said.
"As for the championship’s legacy, I would like to point to three aspects. First, it is infrastructure. It is very important, especially for children’s football. About 70 new training grounds across the entire European Russia will be used to coach children," TASS cited the official as saying.
"Second, it is our organizational skills - volunteers, security," he said, adding that Russia knows how to organize big events.
"And last but not least, we have demonstrated our openness and hospitality to the entire world. And it was not done just for the world tournament. We are like this for real. We have changed Russia’s image in the eyes of the world. And it is very important," Dvorkovich stressed.
Russia is holding its first-ever FIFA World Cup in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
