Vladimir Putin orders national headquarters for World Cup security

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered to set up national inter-departmental headquarters in charge of security issues at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup football tournaments.

In line with Putin's decree on Thursday, the headquarters will be comprised of 16 officials from the country's various ministries as well as from law enforcement agencies and will be headed by a first deputy director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), reports Tass.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko announced on Wednesday that Russia would do everything possible to provide complete security for participants and guests during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Russia is currently in full-swing preparations for the global football championship after the country won the bid to host the 2018 World Cup at the FIFA Congress in Guatemala on December 4, 2010.

The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.