Photo exhibition “№1 Readiness” timed to FIFA World Cup opened in Baku

The Russian Information and Cultural Center in Baku launched the photo exhibition "№1 Readiness” focused on Russia’s cities which are to host 2018 FIFA World Cup.

"№1 Readiness” exhibition has been organized by Rossotrudnichestvo (The Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation) jointly with “Sputnik" news and radio agency. The exposition illustrates the grandiose work performed by Russia involving preparation, modernization and construction of all necessary infrastructure for holding the world football championship. "Sputnik" photographers visited all the cities that will host the championship, and captured the stages of stadiums’ preparation for this significant event for Russia.

"We hope that our photographers managed to convey the atmosphere of one of the major sports events. The work that our country has performed to conduct the World Cup 2018 should be presented to people worldwide," said Oksana Oleinik, the head of "Sputnik" visual projects service.

The opening of the exhibition saw the address of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo in Azerbaijan Alexander Kalamin, the Head of “Sputnik Azerbaijan” news agency Aziz Aliyev and the Head of the Mass Footbal Department of Azerbaijan Association of Football Federations Jahangir Gasanzade.

Guests of the event - students and teachers of sports schools and football practices – studied the exposition and watched the documentary film "The ball may fall and fly up", directed by Arzu Urshan in 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of football in Azerbaijan.

The collection «Sport in Russia» is available on the website of the Presidential Library. The collection features official documents, archival materials, studies, educational materials, reference and visual materials, periodicals which reflect the history of sports in our country. In the spotlight is a section about football that is timed to 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The section features both historical and current materials. In particular, there are a lot of photographs showing the construction of stadiums in Russian cities to host world championship matches.

Based on the materials of http://rs.gov.ru website