Authorities in Chechnya, a federal subject of Russia, began its preparations to host the Egyptian football team on 9 June to participate in the upcoming World Cup in Russia.
“The Chechen Republic is fully preparing to receive the Egyptian team that chose Grozny to hold its preparatory camp before the start of the World Cup,” Magomed Davidov, representative of the Russia 2018 Organising Committee in Grozny, told the Russian news agency TASS.
“The Egyptian fans will stay at a carnival during the Egyptian team’s presence in Grozny,” he added.
Davidov pointed out that the president of Chechnya gave orders to facilitate the mission of the Egyptian team during its presence in Grozny in preparation for the World Cup.
The Egyptian team is set to stay in a five-star hotel built by Emirati investors. The hotel has a restaurant, parking area with a capacity for 500 cars, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a tennis court, several conference rooms, and a shopping center. There is also a football stadium named Akhmat-Arena near the hotel.
Grozny, which means “fearsome” in Russian, is the capital city of the Chechen Republic and it will not host any games of the 2018 World Cup. Grozny was selected by Egypt from a list of 67 options presented to the World Cup finalists. Daily News Egypt reviews the most important features of the city.
The city’s airport will add two additional passport offices to deal with the large number of visitors expected to come to the city to support the Pharaohs.
The Pharaohs were drawn into Group A alongside hosts Russia, as well as Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, with their opening game coming against the South American side on Friday, 15 June in Yekaterinburg, 1,800 km away from Grozny. They will then face hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia on 19 and 25 June in Saint Petersburg and Volgograd respectively. The distance between Grozny and Yekaterinburg or Saint Petersburg is about 2,600 km, while Volgograd, which will host Egypt’s encounter with Saudi Arabia, is 800 km away.
Other World Cup matches will be held from 14 June to 15 July in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Sochi, and Rostov on the Don River.
Food festival awaits Egyptian fans in Russia
The 11 Russian cities hosting the World Cup will launch a number of touristic and entertainment events for their visitors. One of these activities will be holding a popular food festival.
Russian food festivals will be organised in the host cities of the World Cup, along with a number of other recreational activities, to introduce Russian cuisine to the visitors.
For example, Saransk is famous for its pastries, while Rostov and Samara will offer seafood. Saint Petersburg is known for its delicious cakes, Kaliningrad offers Borodinsky bread or Borodino bread, while Sochi offers red mullet dishes.
