Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was reportedly in a meeting with Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar when FIFA, the international football, announced Thursday in Zurich its decision to choose Russia for the organization of the 2018 World Cup.
Russia was picked over bids from England, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands.
Putin, who personally lobbied throughout the bid campaign, said:"Russia loves football. Russia knows what football is and in our country we have everything to conduct the 2018 World Cup on a very worthy level."
It is the first time that a Eastern European country is chosen to conduct sport’s biggest event.
Officials say the World Cup will include 13 major cities, stretching from the enclave of Kaliningrad in the west to Yekaterinburg in the east.