September 24, 2013. There are no grounds to say that Yekaterinburg might be excluded from the program for hosting the World Football Championship matches in 2018, RIA Novosti refers to FIFA's Head of Media Delia Fischer as saying to R-Sport.

The Russian media reported earlier that the authorities might decide to relocate the World Cup matches from Yekaterinburg to Krasnodar – the latter also applied for the right to host the championship but did not make it to the shortlist of candidates. Head of Russia 2018 Coordination Committee Alexei Sorokin denied the possibility of indicating another candidate city in the Russian application; he said the procedure for doing this did not even exist.

'Yekaterinburg is one of the 11 cities that host the World Football Championship matches in 2018, and there is no reason why rumors should be circulating that Yekaterinburg is not going to take part in the event after all. The FIFA and the World Cup 2018 Coordination Committee are working in close cooperation with the city council on the issue of the stadium, and they will find an efficient solution that will make all the parties involved happy,' Fischer said.