Ilsur Metshin: “Such events as the Confederations Cup bring Kazan closer to the cherished dream”

(KZN.RU, June 22). Today in the City Hall, Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan, met with media representatives publicizing the Confederations Cup in the capital of Tatarstan. The press conference with the participation of foreign, federal, regional, and city media took place a few hours before the match between the national teams of Germany and Chile, which will be held at the stadium “Kazan Arena”.

The press conference was attended by journalists from the following media: “Match-TV”, “Sport Express”, “Soviet Sport”, the Yekaterinburg portal Znak.com, “Vatanym Tatarstan”, TRK “Petersburg-5 channel”, the portal ProKazan.ru. About 40 media representatives, including RBK, TASS, “Premium Group”, “Israel sport”, “Reuters TV”, and others, came to the meeting with the Mayor.

A reporter of “Reuters TV” was interested in what lessons Kazan can take from holding the Confederations Cup, a test event ahead of the World Cup 2018. I. Metshin replied that despite the fact that a lot of preparatory work was done, there are certain faults. For example, the fact that there are few Kazan citizens working in the service sector who speak English. The Mayor noted that the work in this direction will be held before the World Championships.

Evgeny Evnevich, a correspondent of a “Match-TV”, asked Ilsur Metshin about impressions of the football events taking place in the city and foreign guests' comments about Kazan. Gianni Infantino, the president of the FIFA who visited the first game, Fernando Gomes, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, and the players of Portugal, in particular, Ronaldo, highly appreciated Kazan's readiness for the tournament and are grateful for the warm welcome they received. Ilsur Metshin also shared his impressions of Cristiano Ronaldo with journalists.

Journalists noted the story of the graffiti of Ronaldo, which appeared next to the hotel where the Portuguese national team resided. Ilsur Metshin talked about how the idea was born that the famous winking picture of Ronaldo would be seen through the windows of his suite.

Also, the Mayor was asked if a graffiti on Lionel Messi would appear in the capital of Tatarstan, if the Argentina national team will arrive in Kazan for the World Cup-2018. “We have many beautiful squares to capture outstanding players, including Messi”, assured Ilsur Metshin. In general, the hospitality program at the World Championships will be broader, said I. Metshin.

Next question was about the issue of houses’ facades. “Our city is also preparing for the World Cup, the facades of residential buildings are being brought to a common design”, said Andrei Varkentin from Yekaterinburg (Znak.com). “I noticed that the facades in Kazan have already been made. Can you share the recipe, how you managed to do it?”.

“We estimated everything with our own eyes, talked with people, listened to their wishes and suggestions”, Ilsur Metshin said. “Further inspection was carried out together with the President of the Republic”.

“Each event takes us to the next level. A lot of work has been done, led by our President and the Government”, noted I. Metshin.

Ayaz Hasanov, a chief editor of the “Izvestia of Tatarstan”, asked the Mayor whether something is being done to hold the Summer Olympics Games in Kazan. I. Metshin noted that every event of international scale, including the Confederations Cup, the future World Championship on professional skills “WorldSkills-2019”, prepares cities for the reception of competitions of any level and brings it closer to the cherished dream. “We do everything possible and even what is beyond our forces to every such event”, marked the Mayor.

Questions about the “Rubin”, English fans, features of the organization, and others were also asked during the press conference.

At the end of the meeting, which lasted about 50 minutes, the Mayor thanked the media representatives. “We watch how the events are publicized. It is important that this is to be done professionally”, said I. Metshin. “I am grateful to you for your love of Kazan, thank you for coming to our city”.