The draw ceremony of the Confederations Cup of the FIFA-2017 was held in Kazan

(KZN.RU, November 26, Anton Nozdrin). The draw ceremony of the Confederations Cup of the FIFA-2017 was held in Kazan, where the composition of the groups and the tournament schedule of matches became known. The Russian national football team got into the group with teams of New Zealand, Portugal and Mexico. National teams of Portugal, Mexico, Germany and Chile will play in Kazan as in one of the four host cities.

Gianni Infantino, the president of the International Football Federation (FIFA), Vitaliy Mutko, the deputy chairman of the Government of the RF on Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy, Mikhail Babich, the plenipotentiary representative of President of the RF in the Volga Federal District, Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of Tatarstan, Ildar Khalikov, the Prime Minister of Tatarstanm Mintimer Shaimiev, the State Counsellor of Tatarstan, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, the coaches of the national teams and others were the guests of the evening in the Academy of Tennis.

Anchormen Yana Churikova and Andrei Malakhov greeted the audience of the ceremony, which was broadcast live on the “Channel One Russia”. Gianni Infantino, the president of the FIFA, was the first invited to the stage and thanked Kazan for their hospitality. “It is a great pleasure for me to be in the Republic of Tatarstan, in Kazan. In the city, full of energy, with a rich culture and history, where people of different nationalities live together and share a passion for football”, said the president of the FIFA.

Vitaly Mutko, the deputy prime minister and the president of the Russian Football Union, also delivered a welcoming speech. He reminded that the Confederations Cup matches will be held next summer in 4 cities of the country. “This is a big football festival. Outstanding masters of sport and the strongest teams in the world will come”, said the deputy prime minister. V. Mutko expressed confidence that the games will be held at the highest level. “Today there are representatives of many generations of Russian football in the hall. There are also the champions of Europe in 1960 year, and Olympic champions. We are full of hope for the brilliant performance of our team”, said V. Mutko.

After that, the trophy appeared on the scene. Julio Baptista, a two-time winner of the “Tournament of Champions” in the national team of Brazil, brought the Confederations Cup. The official ball of the World Cup 2018 and the Confederations Cup, named “Krasava” (“Krasava”), also appeared on the stage, Victoria Lopyreva, a model and anchorwoman, has demonstrated it.

The small concert program with the participation of Timothy, Dima Bilan, Polina Gagarina, Dina Garipova and Igor Butman, directly preceded the draw ceremony. Musical numbers were accompanied by video, telling about cities-organizers of the Confederations Cup 2017. The show was organized by the “Channel One Russia” command.

Zvonimir Boban, the deputy general secretary of the FIFA for the football issues, and Colin Smith, the director of the department for the FIFA competitions and events, conducted the procedure for allocating commands in groups. Sergei Semak, the five-time champion of the Russian Cup, bronze medalist of the European Championships, and Elena Isinbayeva, the double Olympic champion in the pole vault, were their assistants.

The composition of the groups was defined in the tournament during the draw. The Russian national team on the rights of the hosts won the first place in the Group A. The rivals of our team were teams New Zealand, Portugal and Mexico. The second group included teams of Germany, Australia, Chile and the champion of Africa, which will be announced in February 2017.

Also the match schedule was announced at the draw. The Russian national team will hold the opening match on June 17 in St. Petersburg against the New Zealand team. On June 21, our team will play against Portugal in Moscow, and the group stage will be completed with the match Russia vs. Mexico at the stadium “Kazan Arena” on June 24th. “We are waiting for very interesting matches. We wish our team a good game and, of course, victories!” Sergei Semak summed up the draw. The ceremony completed with the performance of Grigory Leps.

Matches of the Confederations Cup 2017 will be held from June 17 to July 2 in 4 cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan will host games. 4 games of the tournament will be held in Kazan in the stadium “Kazan Arena”.

The FIFA World Cup will be held in 2018 in 11 Russian cities. Kazan will take six tournament games (4 games in the group stage, 2 meetings in the playoffs). The countdown clock to the World Cup-2018 has been launched in the capital of Tatarstan on the Kremlin embankment.