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Now that the World Cup is over, what about the stadiums?

The organisation of the World Cup in Russia has attracted widespread praise. In particular, the newly built and refurbished stadiums were hailed as high quality venues worthy of the tournament. But the 'legacy' issue is always a difficult one. Stadiums can easily become white elephants or even if uses are found they may provoke controversy because of sweetheart deals that have to be offered to secure occupancy as in the case of West Ham United and the London Stadium. Greece had one of the worst experiences with its Olympic venues: Abandoned stadiums.

The predicament is particularly acute in Russia, where vast distances between host cities, a lack of a strong football tradition outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, and tight regional finances mean that local governments are using creative ways to keep their stadiums in use. Only five top flight teams are privately owned, while the local governments and state-run companies that own the rest struggle to fund their teams. Four of the stadiums used for the World Cup do not have top flight teams and need outside sponsors to fund a push for promotion.

World Cup expenses accounted for significant increases in several host provinces' net debt after 2012, including nearly all of Samar's.

Sochi built its stadium for the Winter Olympics and then converted it into a football stadium. The Black Sea city has been unable to support a football team. Zhemchuzhina, a leading side in the 1990s, went bankrupt in 2003, while FK Sochi lasted two seasons in lower divisions a decade later.

The city enlisted Boris Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Mr Putin's, who bought Dinamo St. Petersburg, a second division side, and moved it to Sochi where it will play as FK Sochi. A bigger move than that of Wimbledon to Milton Keynes.

Mr Rotenberg's older brother Arkady is Mr Putin's judo partner and became a billionaire after his friend became president through winning pipeline contracts for state monopoly Gazprom.

The stadiums will cost a lot to maintain. The mayor of Volgograd expects to spend Rbs350m a year keeping the stadium running, but hopes that more tourists will be attracted to come to the site of the Battle of Stalingrad as a result of the publicity during the World Cup.

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