Sergey Fursenko: I’m absolutely sure Russia will win the 2018 World Cup

Sergey Fursenko, president of the Russian Football Union, explained the need to reform of the Russian championship and the shift to the ‘autumn-to-spring’ calendar, as well as expressed confidence in the national team’s victory at the 2018 World Cup.

«The tournament has already been played near to those dates for a long time. Moreover, in Soviet times, the first and the last games of the season were all played in the south. Believe me, we will also find a way to not play football in the cold. Just don’t forget that in terms of calendar nothing has changed on a large scale. The names of the legs are different, but their dates are the same.»

«Then why would you need to change something at all?»

«Given our traditions and infrastructure, you have to create some tension to get someone do something – it’s a well-known thing. We could give up the idea of build anything new at all. But I wanted to create a motivation for a change. As a respected man of football told me: «Sergei, you came into football. I beg you no to change anything. » But still I did change. And then he told me: «OK, you were right.»

«Do you still think Russia will win the 2018 World Cup?»

«I’m absolutely sure of this,» Fursenko said as quoted by Sport-Express.