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Russia poll indicates low enthusiasm for soccer despite hosting 2018 World Cup

A new poll shatters Russian officials hopes to kickstart the nation's pride and prestige in the world's most popular sport.

By Jared M. Feldschreiber

MOSCOW, July 6 (UPI) -- While the nation has its grand sights set on hosting the 2018 World Cup, a new poll by the Russian Public Opinion Centre (WCIOM) indicated that 73 percent of its citizens feel "indifferent" overall about the sport.

Only 19 percent said that they were "interested in it from time to time" while just 8 percent described themselves as regular soccer fans. The latest survey sampled 1,600 Russians across 46 regions, Russia Beyond the Headlines reported.

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"Interest in football isn't high now," said Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko in comments made to state news agency Tass. Mutko pointed to the sport's lack of popularity to "many scandals," a boring domestic league and the national team's paltry performance during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where attendance in the Russian Premier League has dwindled to just 10,000 spectators a game, a 19-year low. Infighting within the Russian Football Union has caused financial debts leading to its president's ouster.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place between June 14 and July 15, 2018, and is the first time the tournament will be held within the former Soviet Union and the first since 2006 to be held in Europe. The opening match and the final are expected to take place in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.

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Other poll numbers reveal 25 percent of Russians do not follow the SOGAZ Russian Football Premier League, and 57 percent of Russians could not indicate a professional they admired as a person.

Despite its setbacks, Mutko is confident Russia will rise to the challenge of hosting the World Cup in a big way. "Russia is full of resolve to host one of the best World Cups and fulfill all its obligations," he said at a press conference on preparations for the event to be held in Samara. "The world cup in the main football event and Russia, which has received this right is approaching its work very responsibly and is fulfilling all its obligations to FIFA."

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced at a news conference in late May that bribes in FIFA have taken place over the course of 24 years with officials soliciting bribes from sports marketing firms. 14 people were hit with federal charges, and on Monday Harold Mayne-Nicholls was suspended by its ethics committee for seven years.

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