FIFA has described Russia's hosting of the 2017 Confederations Cup as a "great success" and suggests that it bodes well for next year's World Cup in the country.
Germany beat Chile in the final on Sunday to win the tournament for the first time, and the competition concluded without any incidents of crowd trouble in the 16 games across four host cities.
"It has been a great success from many points of view," FIFA president Gianni Infantino is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News.
"We were hearing about violence [before the tournament], about incidents, about hooligans, about racism. Well we had nothing, we had no incidents. Everything ran smoothly."
Alexey Sorokin, Russia 2018's chief executive, added: "It's been very successful. The level at which this tournament was organised dispelled many fears and stereotypes about how major events are organised in Russia, how foreign fans are treated.
"Fans enjoyed free travel and free Wi-Fi inside stadiums. 217 trains were made available to transport fans. We feel very comfortable, we just need people to come here and enjoy Russia. We expected a little more spectators from foreign countries.
"We are confident, there was not a single racist incident during the Confederations Cup. We see these incidents lowering in number tremendously [in Russia]. That means the trend is the right one and I'm sure the World Cup will be an excellent environment."
A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities during the World Cup, and the final will take place on July 15, 2018 in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Giuseppe Labellarte
