Russia 2018 World Cup Notebook - Day 30

More people in metro stations than on the streets

*****
Moscow and Saint Petersburg have impressive and elaborate network of underground metro stations. The deepest part of Moscow’s underground rail network is 84 metres, and that means the train moves underground for the better part of the journey as Muscovites either report to work in the morning or when they leave for home.

Compared to Saint Petersburg’s metro stations, Moscow’s metro system takes the prize for its sophistication and the historical attachment it has to the country. It is a rapid transit system serving Moscow city and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki and connects some 214 stations and covers 364.9 km.

Interestingly, Muscovites spend more time underground in the metro system than on the streets. Moscow has a population of 12 million people, and eight million people use the metro every day. One million people use the metro system to connect to varios destinations at any given time.

Time zones and final

******

Russia has 11 different time zones, and that presents an interesting situation with regard to Sunday’s final of the 2018 Fifa World Cup. The final match between Croatia and France will be played at Luzhniki Stadium and will start at 6pm Kenyan time, which is the same time as Russia’s capital Moscow. But it will be 3am in Sakha, Eastern Russia which is eight hours ahead of Moscow.

People living in Magadan in Eastern Russia will wake up at 2am to watch the final match. The vastness of the country presents a potential administrative challenge, and this perhaps explains why Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is hands-on and has been known to follow through his orders.

Russian politics

*****
The Russian Federation has a multi-party political system, and six political parties currently have members in the federal parliament which is called State Duma. Yedinaya Rossiya is the ruling political party of the Russian Federation, but United Russia is the largest party in Russia.

As at last year, United Russia held 340 (or 75.56 per cent) of the 450 seats in the State Duma. However, it was not always like this. After the Pestrika reforms (political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s until 1991 widely associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev), political parties increased to 100. However, under Vladimir Putin’s first stint as president of Russia (2000-2008), the number of political parties decreased to only seven.

Argentine ref to preside over final

******
Referee Nestor Fabian Pitana carries a huge weight on his shoulders on Sunday as Croatia play France in the final of the 2018 Fifa World Cup at Russia’s cathedral of football, Luzhniki Stadium. Luzhniki Stadium hosted football matches when Moscow hosted 1980 Olympic Games, and also hosted 2008/2009 Uefa Champions League final.

The 43-year-old referee born in Corpus, Argentina, must be at his best to make correct and timely decisions in the match, given the high rate of play-acting that has been witnessed in this year’s tournament.