The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported earlier on Wednesday that only Visa cards would be accepted at the stadiums during the tournament following an agreement between FIFA and Visa, one of its major partners.

"The actions of the Russia 2018 Local Organizing Committee, of FIFA subsidiaries and of FIFA partners related to the proper execution of the agreements signed with FIFA, are not recognized as unfair competition," Kashevarov said adding that during the tournament the legal relations were regulated by the Federal Law on preparing and staging the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

According to the Russian legislation, all Russian businesses with annual turnover of more than 40 million rubles (almost $650,000) must accept Russian payment cards Mir-Mastercard.

Russia’s first-ever FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15 in 11 cities across the country, Moscow, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi and Yekaterinburg.