Russia

The Sochi 2014 Organising Committee has selected GAZ Group and Scania-Rus as the exclusive suppliers of buses for the Games.

Russian Vice-Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak insisted on Wednesday that venue and infrastructure costs ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were under control after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) hailed preparations for the Games.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has revealed plans for Russia to reduce the number of stadia it plans to utilise during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has hailed Russia’s early preparations for the 2018 World Cup as “outstanding”.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Co-ordination Commission chairman Jean-Claude Killy has hailed organisers of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games for “continued progress” in construction projects ahead of the event.

Euroleague Basketball action will stay on NTV-Plus in Russia and Ukraine for the next three years, the sports organisation has announced.

Bridgestone has admitted defeat in its bid to seal a commercial partnership with Russia’s top football cup competition just days after announcing it had acquired the tournament’s title sponsorship rights.

The Russian city of Kazan and Guadalajara in Mexico have been confirmed as the hosts of future editions of the FINA World Championships, the biggest event on the international swimming calendar.

Superleague Formula’s bid to race at the new Smolensk Ring in Russia this September has been put on hold after the circuit’s directors admitted that the venue would not be ready to stage an international event before 2012.

Computer software giant Microsoft has been unveiled as an official supplier of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.

The 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship will take place in the Russian cities of St Petersburg and Moscow, the sport’s global governing body has confirmed.

Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, has expressed an interest in staging the International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development in 2013.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has claimed that all construction work ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics will be completed by the end of 2012.

Women ski jumpers yesterday won the right to compete in the Winter Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the sport as one of six new events on the Sochi 2014 Games programme.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called on the Russian Football Union (RFU) to act on the violence and ethnic tension that exists amongst the nation’s football supporters ahead of its staging of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Russia’s increasingly prominent status as a sports host has increased the competition to sign up commercial partners for events such as the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the head of the organising committee has admitted.