The Company will be assigned the status of FIFA Partner for all competitions in the period of 2015–2018, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, which will take place in Russia for the very first time.
“Gazprom is known for its special attitude to football. We have a long and successful track record of interaction with football organizations, are an official partner of the UEFA Champions League and support football clubs in Russia and Europe.
The cooperation with FIFA means for us entering a new level of world-class support to football. For Gazprom it is an important step in positioning itself as a global energy company,” said Alexey Miller.
On December 2, 2010, the FIFA Executive Committee named Russia in Zurich as the host country of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™. The competition will take place in 11 Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg) at 12 stadiums.
Gazprom is the sponsor of the Football Club Zenit (Russia) and gives support to such football teams as Chelsea (UK), Schalke 04 (Germany) and Crvena Zvezda (Serbia). In addition, the Company is an official partner of the UEFA Champions League 2012/2015 and the UEFA Super Cup 2012/2014.