2018 World Cup cost estimate grows from $640m to $4bn

Six months after being awarded the right to host the football World Cup in 2018, the Russian Sports and Tourism Ministry has issued the draft law about the tournament. The estimate of costs for the evernt has grown several times and will require even more funds than the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Kommersant reported.

According to the law, the Sports Ministry promises exemptions and benefits for the participants of the World Cup – from free transportation between the cities with stadium entrance tickets to visa-free arrival to Russia for all fans and zero taxes for the organizers.

The bill also features the regulations for the currency operations and taxation required by FIFA and describes the procedure of stadiums construction. The latter will be subject to simplified procedure of preparation, endorsement, and approval of documentation, simplified procedure of state expertise, and shorter terms for the endorsement of documentation.

However, even before public consultations on the bill are complete the Ministry of Economics has already given its own opinion about it. The main problem of the document, in the ministry’s opinion, are the sources of its funding. In particular, the Ministry of Economics considers it necessary to substantiate the ratio between the sources of financing of construction and reconstruction of hotels for the teams, which is currently set as a 50/50 proportion between the regional budgets and private investors.

It’s worth noting that since the Russia’s triumph in the competition for the right to hold the World Cup its costs estimate has already grown from $640 million (as stated in the official bid) to approximately to $4 billion. Additional $90 billion are required to develop the railway transport system for the tournament.