FIFA Officially Sets Dates for 2018 World Cup: Latest Details and Comments

FIFA's Executive Committee had its final meeting of the year in Marrakech, Morocco, on Friday, and the organisation released the official dates for the 2018 World Cup in Russia upon its completion.

According to a statement on FIFA's official website, the opening match will be played on June 14, 2018, with the final taking place on July 15. The Confederations Cup, traditionally held one year earlier, will be played between June 17 and July 2, 2017.

The announcement of the dates was part of an extensive press conference, as you can see below:

The preliminary draw for the 2018 World Cup will take place in St. Petersburg on July 25 of next year, while the AFC and CONCACAF could start their qualifying campaigns before that date—as early as March.

The news of the dates came just hours after FIFA ruled out a re-vote regarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, as shared by Associated Press:

The release of the dates represents a bit of a normality for FIFA after weeks filled with accusations of corruption and the resignation of Michael Garcia, the former chairman of the organisation's Ethics committee, who disagreed with how his report on possible corruption was handled.

His replacement will likely be appointed next year, per FIFA: "Following the resignation of the chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Michael J. Garcia, the Executive Committee appointed the current deputy, Cornel Borbely, to chair the chamber until the next FIFA Congress in May 2015."

The dates for Qatar 2022 will be decided in March.

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