Russian soccer fans aren’t holding out much hope that their national team will emerge victorious when the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off next month. Russia’s economy won’t be a big winner either, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The economic benefit of hosting the world’s most-watched sporting event will be “very limited” and “short-lived,” analysts from the rating company said in a report published Thursday. “The impact is likely to be even lower” than the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted by Russia in Sochi, “which developed an under-built resort area that is more accessible than many of the regions where the World Cup will be staged.”
