The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour will cover an area where almost one-third of Russians reside, Coca-Cola representative and trophy tour organizer, Alexander Kleptsov told reporters in Omsk.
Omsk became the second city after Krasnoyarsk along the trophy’s tour route. “We have worked out with FIFA the longest tour yet for the World Cup Trophy especially for our country. The tour will pass through areas where more than 40 million people live and will enable one-third of our country’s population to see this legendary trophy with their own eyes,” Kleptsov stated.
He stressed that the event will create the atmosphere of a football holiday for those regions that will not be hosting the championships the next year. “The tour makes the philosophy of football itself more accessible and provides the possibility for as many Russians as possible to feel part of this new page in Russian football history,” Kleptsov explained.
The trophy will be displayed in Omsk on September 16 and 17 at the Continent shopping mall, where anyone who wishes will be able to take its photos. “According to our assessments, about 600 people managed to make a photo shoot in an hour. We may say that Omsk residents are lucky to host the trophy during the weekend,” the company’s representative noted.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour kicked off on September 9 in Moscow. The trophy will be on display in 15 cities from September to December, after which it will be sent abroad and exhibited in more than 50 countries around the world. The trophy will then return to Russia and visit nine more Russian cities. The total length of the tour is more than 27,000 km.
The World Cup matches will be held on June 14 – July 15, 2018, in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Saransk.