Analysts at CBRE, the leading international real estate consulting company, the "cost" of a FIFA fan for Russia was calculated at $1,387 was spent for one visitor to the stadium.

12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities were prepared to the World Cup with the total capacity of 576 thousand visitors. 9 out of 12 sports facilities were constructed from scratch or reconstructed. The total area of ​​construction and reconstruction amounted to 1 116 million square meters. Investments in the stadiums of the World Cup are comparable with the construction of:

A fan of the World Cup in Russia has become one of the most expensive fans since the games on the football stadiums of Japan and South Korea in 2002. So, $1,387 per each visitor was invested only in the arrangement of sports facilities. When accounting for investments in infrastructure, the cost per one FIFA fan increases to $4,694.

Sources: FIFA, Institute of Economic Structures Research, Harvard Asia Pacific Review

However, the investments have been justified - visitors were impressed by the level of the event, as well as with the mismatch of myths concerning Russia with the reality. It is highlighted by numerous international media sources:

- The main goal of the championship was scored by Vladimir Putin, - the Spanish "El País” states. - Many football fans from all over the world expected to see gloomy, unsociable and cruel Russians. Imagine their pleasant surprise when at every step they were met by happy, smiling and open people who joined the great football fiesta in all the cities where the games were held!

- We were promoted the idea that the upcoming Russian football tournament is going to be the "world cup of shame", an "attractive object for terrorism” and simply a "Putin’s Cup", - reflects the British "The Independent”. - We did not see anything like that during the month of games. The organization of the tournament was beyond all possible expectations, and one of the impressions that will remain among foreigners after the event is indignation concerning how the world media deceive the citizens of their countries, drawing a negative image of Russia.

- Tens of thousands of volunteers, hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors and millions of fans of Russian football. For each of them, the World Cup has become a real holiday,” - Deutsche "Welle” says. - With modern stadiums, fantastically hospitable atmosphere, delicious beer, a feeling of complete security in any city and, most importantly, the euphoria caused by the performance of the Russian team that reached the 1/4 Finals, although no one expected it. This last factor, of course, made a special contribution to the awesome ambience of the World Cup.

The Italian portal "Lettera43" posted:"The World Cup was a phenomenon that erased established stereotypes of the Russians being portrayed as gloomy people, and the police have a structure that is always hostile to people. In the reality, the police behaved politely and correctly with everyone."

- The championship was successful, - the media concludes. - Russia has attracted 700 thousand fans from other countries who had nothing to complain about. Now the Russians expect that the number of foreign tourists coming to their country to grow by at least 15% next year.

One more good news is that Vladimir Putin announced at the end of the FIFA final match that foreign fans will be able to visit Russia without a visa until the end of 2018. This applies the foreigners who have already issued a fan ID.