As Russia steps up plans for hosting the 2018 World Cup, sports minister Vitaly Mutko pledged the country will work hard to reduce racism among football fans.
Mutko's comments came two days after a banana was thrown at Chris Samba, a Congolese defender who plays for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, after a match at Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday. It was the third such incident against Anzhi players in the past year and raised concerns about whether the racism that is widespread among Russian football fans would trouble the World Cup.
''Of course it's bad and Russia will fight against such manifestations of racism,'' Mutko said at a news conference Tuesday discussing preparations for the event.
Alexei Sorkin, chief executive of the organizing committee, said he believes that Russian's pride in holding the competition would undermine any prejudice.
''I am sure that in preparation for an event such as the World Cup, society is going to eradicate such phenomena,'' he said.
Mutko said the host cities and stadiums will be announced in September after inspection tours that are set to begin next month. There are now 13 candidate cities with a total of 15 stadiums, which will be reduced to 11 cities and 12 stadiums.
Mutko said Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, the country's largest, is certain to be a proposed venue. The other cities are all in the western half of Russia.
In an unsual move, an interim official logo for the competition was presented at the news conference. Featuring a stylized image of the World Cup trophy, the logo is to be used for local promotional events only. It won't be utilized outside Russia to ensure promotion of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil isn't undermined.
