"There is another component of this tournament, as well as any other World Cup - an incredible positive impetus for the development of sports in general and football in particular. As you can see, [people] in our country love football," Putin said at a meeting with former football greats in the Kremlin.

He added that hosting the World Cup would also encourage young people to take up sports, so that they "would not do what ruins them but rather improve themselves physically and mentally."