MOSCOW: Alexei Sorokin has insisted that Russia’s 2018 World Cup organisers will not be embarrassed by the quality of the base camps for the teams competing at the finals in June and July writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Sorokin took over from Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko as head of the local organising committee in the fall-out after the Russian doping scandal.

On Friday, world federation FIFA announced the approved list of team bases.

Sorokin told news agency TASS: “The bases are generally ready, but there are still some jobs on several training grounds. All the teams have visited their bases, are satisfied with them and know how they will train.

“We can be sure that we will not be embarrassed by the bases because we have always taken this work seriously and there was competition for the right to host teams. We are trying to take into account the additional wishes of the teams.”

Sorokin promised high-level security.

The one immediate issue which has arisen is Egypt’s selection of a team base in the strife-torn region of Chechnya which has drawn criticism from human rights organisations.

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