IOC President Has Hip Replacement Surgery; Medvedev Blasts FIFA 2018 Venue

(ATR) IOC president Jacques Rogge is to have hip replacement surgery later this week.

The IOC describes the operation as "routine hip replacement surgery", adding that he would be discharged from the hospital "after a few days".

No details were given on where the 70-year-old is having the operation. But it is likely to be in his home country Belgium.

The IOC declined to say when Rogge would return to work and able to carry out his presidential duties in a full-time capacity.

He is expected to be limited in his work activities at home and abroad for at least four to six weeks. Long-term recovery takes months.

The IOC told Around the Rings there was no need for any IOC Executive Board member to deputise for Rogge in meetings this week.

Clear rules on deputising for the IOC president are written into the Olympic Charter.

It states: "If the president is unable to fulfil the duties of his office, the vice-president who is senior in such office replaces him until the president has recovered his ability or, if he is in a condition of permanent disability, until a new president is elected at the next Session."

Russian PM Criticises St. Petersburg World Cup Stadium

Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has labeled St. Petersburg’s World Cup stadium project "disgraceful" and pledged to block any more federal government grants for its construction.

Medvedev reportedly criticised the people behind the design of the most expensive Russia 2018 stadium project after a visit to the venue on Saturday.

"It’s not just a long build, it looks disgraceful," Medvedev was quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency.

"It’s not right just to come to the Russian Federation budget and say ‘give me extra money’."

In the Russia 2018 bid book, St. Petersburg proposed to build a 69,500-seat stadium with a moveable roof and retractable pitch. The venue will host a World Cup semi-final. Designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, it was promoted by Russia 2018 as one of the jewels of its bid book submission to FIFA.

Around the Rings' sister publication World Football Insider visited the stadium construction site on Krestovsky Island in the north west of the city prior to Russia’s December 2010 bid victory. The single biggest stadium project proposed under the bid was originally costed at around 500 million euros. Now this figure has rocketed to 705 million euros ($886 million), according to reports.

Stadium construction started in 2007 and was scheduled to finish by the end of 2011. But due to the challenging design and financial issues World Cup organisers have slapped a 2014 finish date on the project.

The venue, which will be the new home of Zenit Saint Petersburg from 2012, is being built on the site of the former 75,000-capacity Keirov Stadium, an outdated arena constructed in the 1930sthat was pulled down three years ago.

Inevitably, an official Russia 2018 statement on Medvedev’s visit published on FIFA.com gives no indication of the Russian PM’s concerns with the project.

It said only that he "learned more about how the construction work is progressing, and about plans to build 15 stadiums in the 13 candidate cities bidding to host matches during the tournament".

The cities in the frame are: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi and Ekaterinburg.

Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s sports minister and 2018 chairman, briefed Medvedev on the ongoing preparations for FIFA’s showpiece event. Also at the meeting were Russia 2018 CEO Alexey Sorokin, representatives of the St Petersburg city authorities and executives from Zenit St Petersburg.

The LOC statement said that another four venues are currently under construction for the World Cup after Brazil 2014. Venues are also being built in Kazan, Sochi, for Spartak Moscow and the arena in Saransk. Eight stadiums remain at the design stage, while two existing venues – Moscow’s Luzhniki and the Tsentralny Stadium in Ekaterinburg - will be renovated for the World Cup.

Russia’s host cities for the FIFA tournament will be announced later this month.

Russian NOC Official Gets Football Job

Nikolay Tolstykh, executive director of the Russian Olympic Committee, was on Monday elected president of the Russian Football Union. He was a vice president of the RFU.

His candidacy was backed by Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko.

Tolstykh will play a key role in the country's 2018 World Cup preparations as well as overseeing developments in Russian football aimed at producing a strong team for the FIFA showpiece.

Former Russian FA head Sergey Fursenko quit the post in the wake of the nation's disappointing display at the UEFA Euro 2012 championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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