Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in St. Petersburg on July 25th, where the draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifying matches will take place. This was confirmed by his press spokesman Dmitry Peskov. It is still unknown whether the Russian leader will be invited to draw the lots, but he definitely promises to meet with his good friend FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
On July 25th, the second most important event will take place in the Russian city, where the draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifying matches will be held, after which four out of five FIFA confederations will know by which paths each country will advance to the world championships.
That day in St. Petersburg, the draws for the Asian, Oceania, North and South American confederations will take place, after which all qualifying groups will be revealed. The European draw will take place after the qualifications for the 2016 European Championship are finished.
Vladimir Putin and Sepp Blatter promise to dedicate the whole day to this event, but it has not been revealed yet whether the Russian leader will draw at least one lot with a country's name on it.
It is already joked that Putin might want to influence the fate of the US national football team, so he might "give a hand" in the draws of the North American Confederation.
It is known that current and former football stars, such as Russians Rinat Dasayev and Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o, Italian Fabio Cannavaro, German Oliver Bierhoff, and Brazilian Ronaldo, should attend the draw ceremony.
The ceremony will take place in the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg and will start on Saturday at 6 pm local time. It is said that the event will be hosted by model Natalia Vodianova and Dmitry Shpelev, the husband of the recently deceased singer Zhanna Friske.
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