Nearly half a million fans bring delight in FIFA and Russian camps

Saint Petersburg:  Nearly half a million fans have watched the 12 matches at the Confederations Cup in Russia where world governing body FIFA and Local Organising Committee (LOC) are feeling confident as the host country prepares for next year's World Cup.
According to statistics unveiled by the LOC, 449,599 spectators attended the group stage matches with an average attendance of 37,466 at each fixture.
Four games still remain to be played at the 2017 edition of the Confederations Cup. Some 659.297 fans watched the Confederations Cup matches in Brazil four years ago. The 16 matches at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa were watched by 584,000 fans - an average of 36,555.
"The fan attendance has been really good," FIFA Chief Competitions & Events Officer Colin Smith, said at a press conference at Saint Petersburg.
Smith said other aspects of the organization have been well managed by the LOC.
"We have now seen clear evidence of how the operations for the first 12 matches have been carried out at a very high level – both at the stadiums and across the four Host Cities. From an operational standpoint, the group stage of the FIFA Confederations Cup has been a success,"
Smith said FIFA would be working with the LOC as it streamlines its operations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
"Having said all this, though, we of course see room for improvement," Smith told the assembled media. "There are operational aspects that we continue to fine-tune and adjust in order to improve the delivery of the four remaining games of the knockout stage.
"Also, it is very important that these improvements will also serve as valuable lessons looking ahead to next year’s FIFA World Cup – not only in the four stadiums that we are using here but across all 12 venues that will be used next year,” he added.
Alexey Sorokin, the CEO of the LOC, said the host country would be working on a formula to make commuting an easy process for the visitors at next year's World Cup. "It is hardly a secret that this is a joint effort involving FIFA and the LOC, but also the local and federal authorities," Sorokin said.
"This effort led to very complex initiatives being fully operational, such as the free trains for ticket holders to travel between host cities or the visa-free entry to country by means of the Fan ID," he added.
“The truth is that things have gone very well so far. Feedback from fans, players and participants has been very positive, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We know that the four most important matches of the knockout stage are ahead of us," Sorokin added.
"Looking ahead to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, we certainly need to brief the public to come and pick-up their Fan IDs – and to arrive at the stadium – well in advance.
"It is the kind of conclusion that we will draw here. We will draw conclusions and learn our lessons, but in general, everything has worked. This is the best intermediate conclusion I can give. The things that worried us and that had not been time-tested worked out very well,” Sorokin said.