Conventional wisdom has it that with Putin in charge (he was inaugurated again last week for his fourth term), the quadrennial world soccer championships will run like clockwork. Back in 2013, Jerome Valcke, then secretary-general of FIFA, soccer's international governing body, said as much: "I will say something which is crazy, but less democracy is sometimes better for organizing a World Cup…. When you have a very strong head of state who can decide, as maybe Putin can do in 2018 … that is easier for organizers."

Source: Los Angeles Times May 14, 2018 11:03 UTC