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Russian town's World Cup '18 stadium under construction

SARANSK, Russia, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The Russian town of Saransk is well ahead of schedule in the construction of its World Cup soccer stadium, regional officials said Saturday.

Russia doesn't host the quadrennial soccer extravaganza until 2018, but regional officials told R-Sport its 45,000-seat stadium was already 15-percent complete.

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"The most important things in this process are acquiring the land, supplying communications," said Vladimir Volkov, head of the regional government. "We have got all of that already - the land's been delimited, the foundations have been prepared."

Saransk also took steps to ensure against flooding from the nearby River Insar by raising the ground in the entire neighborhood by four meters..

Saransk is the smallest of the 11 cities that will host World Cup 2018. It only has 30,000 residents and its local team was relegated after its first and so-far only season in the Russian Premier League last year.

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