MOSCOW: Russia, host to the World Cup finals in June and July this year, has targeted the 2021 Beach Soccer World Cup as its next international football event writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

The Russian Football Union’s ambition has been confirmed by  Sergey Anokhin, a vice-president and head of the RFU’s beach football committee.

This comes little more than a week after Alexander Alayev, a former beach soccer player and senior official, took over as interim president of the RFU from controversy-battered Vitaly Mutko.

Alayev joined the RFU in 2007 as head of the beach soccer department and also its national team coach. In 2010 he was promoted to deputy sports director, becoming executive director in 2012. Since March 2016 he has been both general director and secretary-general.

FIFA took over the beach football world championship in 2005. Brazil has played host three times with the event being staged once each in France, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Tahiti and Portugal.

Anokhin, as reported by the TASS news agency, saud: “We will strive to holding the Beach Soccer World Cup in 2021 in Moscow. More and more beach soccer pitches are being provided in our cities.

“As for the indoor pitches, this is a problem that we must solve together with the Ministry of Sport. We have planned for five regional venues [and] the first should be in Saratov.

“We want a big arena in Moscow for three thousand spectators and the same in St Petersburg.”

############