{"id":298786,"date":"2018-06-15T00:54:37","date_gmt":"2018-06-14T19:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=298786"},"modified":"2018-06-28T15:22:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T15:22:19","slug":"fifa-world-cup-officially-declared-open-after-colourful-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/fifa-world-cup-officially-declared-open-after-colourful-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA World Cup Officially Declared Open After Colourful Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared the FIFA World Cup open after a colourful opening ceremony at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russian President in his speech addressing football fans across the world, said, \u201cI\u00a0welcome all guests to\u00a0the\u00a0legendary Moscow stadium Luzhniki, everyone gathered in\u00a0the\u00a0numerous fan zones of\u00a0the\u00a02018 FIFA World Cup, and\u00a0those watching us on\u00a0television or\u00a0online.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0congratulate you\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0entire large, multinational, tightly-knit international football family\u00a0\u2013 on\u00a0the\u00a0start of\u00a0the\u00a0top tournament on\u00a0the\u00a0planet!<\/span><\/p>\n

This major sporting event is being held in\u00a0Russia for\u00a0the\u00a0first time, and\u00a0we are sincerely happy about it. In\u00a0our country, football is not just the\u00a0most popular sport. People genuinely love football. And\u00a0it was love at\u00a0first sight, from the\u00a0first official match that took place in\u00a0Russia in\u00a01897.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe prepared responsibly for\u00a0this major event and\u00a0did our best so that fans, athletes and\u00a0specialists could immerse themselves in\u00a0the\u00a0atmosphere of\u00a0this magnificent football festival and, of\u00a0course, enjoy their stay in\u00a0Russia\u00a0\u2013 open, hospitable, friendly Russia\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0find new friends here, new like-minded people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider this: without exaggeration, there are billions of\u00a0people on\u00a0the\u00a0planet who are devoted football fans. And\u00a0wherever we live, no matter our traditions, we all are united as\u00a0one team by\u00a0our love for\u00a0this spectacular, dazzling, uncompromising game. And\u00a0so all the\u00a0members of\u00a0this team understand each other well, they have a\u00a0good sense of\u00a0each other,\u201d President Putin added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking on the world\u2019s unity, Putin said, \u201cIt is in\u00a0this unity, which bends neither to\u00a0differences in\u00a0language, nor in\u00a0ideology, nor in\u00a0faith, that the\u00a0great power of\u00a0football, of\u00a0sport in\u00a0general, the\u00a0power of\u00a0its humanistic principles, lies. Our task is to\u00a0preserve this power, this unity for\u00a0future generations, for\u00a0the\u00a0sake of\u00a0developing sport and\u00a0strengthening peace and\u00a0mutual understanding among peoples,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0wish success to\u00a0all the\u00a0teams, and\u00a0unforgettable impressions to\u00a0fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to\u00a0Russia!<\/span><\/p>\n

FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the opening ceremony said,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to\u00a0the\u00a0World Cup!<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to\u00a0the\u00a0FIFA World Cup here in\u00a0Russia!<\/span><\/p>\n

As\u00a0of\u00a0today, for\u00a0one month, football will conquer Russia. And\u00a0from Russia, football will conquer the\u00a0entire world. Enjoy the\u00a0biggest celebration on\u00a0earth! Thank you, President Putin! Thank you, Moscow!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Performances from British singer Robbie Williams and Russian operatic soprano Aida Garifullina were the highlights of the opening ceremony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2018, Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia by 5-0. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared the FIFA World Cup open after a colourful opening ceremony at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Russian President in his speech addressing football fans across the world, said, \u201cI\u00a0welcome all guests to\u00a0the\u00a0legendary Moscow stadium Luzhniki, everyone gathered in\u00a0the\u00a0numerous fan zones of\u00a0the\u00a02018 FIFA World Cup, and\u00a0those watching us on\u00a0television […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":299500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31,53],"tags":[2543,2544,2545,2546,2547,2548,2549,2550,861,1712,1782],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299503,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298786\/revisions\/299503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/299500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}