The 2018 FIFA World Cup added more than $14 billion (£10.8 billiion/€12.2 billion) to the Russian economy, tournament organisers have claimed.
The figure was revealed in a report on the economic, social and environmental impact of the tournament by Alexey Sorokin, the chief executive of Russia’s World Cup Organising Committee.
“The figure the report comes up with is quite surprising,” Sorokin told a football conference in Qatar, which will host the next World Cup in 2022.
According to Sorokin the report calculated that the impact of the World Cup on Russian gross domestic product (GDP) between 2013 and 2018 was 952 billion roubles – the equivalent of 1.1 per cent of GDP.
The report, prepared by Russian World Cup organisers, also claimed that the tournament created up to 315,000 jobs per year in Russia and would still have an impact on the economy over the next five years.
Despite warnings prior to the tournament over hooliganism and the political situation involving Russia and Western countries, the 2018 World Cup was considered a success.
The figure outstrips the estimated 688 billion roubles ($10.5 billion/£8billion/€9.1billion) spent on hosting the tournament from all sources.
The benefits from hosting the tournament – which took place from June 14 to July 15 at 12 stadiums in 11 host
