MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIFA's new president Gianni Infantino launched on Wednesday a campaign to recruit volunteers for the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup that Russia is preparing to host.
"Russia will host the world's top 32 football teams at the World Cup," Putin said at a ceremony at the All-Russian Exhibition Centre in Moscow.
"Today we are giving the start to the creation of the 33rd squad. The biggest team, the 2018 World Cup volunteers' team.
"I am confident that Russia will guarantee the highest possible level of the World Cup organisation.
Infantino for his part began his speech by saying in Russian: "I love football. I love Russia."
He called the start of the recruitment campaign an important milestone in the country's preparations for the World Cup.
"We move from the infrastructure construction phase to the operational phase," he said.
"We're all volunteers and we know -- as President Putin has said -- how important the volunteering programmes are in sport events.
"And what unites all of us -- the president, the fans, the players, the coaches, the referees -- we're all united by the passion."
The 2008 European champion and 2010 World Cup winner Carles Puyol of Spain, former Croatia midfielder Zvonimir Boban and Russia's legendary goalkeeper Rinat Dasayev also attended the ceremony.
The 2018 World Cup organising committee plans to bring in around 5,500 volunteers for the 2017 Confederations Cup, while a further 15,000 volunteers will come on board a year later to help host the World Cup in Russia.
The 15 recruiting centres in all of the World Cup host cities will choose candidates from both Russian and foreign applicants.
The selection of volunteers is expected to last until the end of 2016.
Russia will host the 2018 World Cup at 12 venues in 11 cities - Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, Kazan, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Sochi.
Putin said that the preparations for the World Cup were "in full swing," and three stadiums -- in Kazan, Sochi and Moscow -- had already been built.
He added that the reconstruction of Moscow's Luzhniki, the tournament's main venue, would be completed by December 2016.
A number of other World Cup facilities will be functional in one year for the Confederations Cup.
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