European Commission denies rumours on FIFA World Cup's boycott

The European Commission on Tuesday quashed rumours about its possible boycott of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, with spokesperson Mina Andreeva saying that it will inform everyone if such information is true.

A number of Western media reports suggested earlier that some of the member states of the European Commission decided in favour of boycotting the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia in view of the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Great Britain. The UK authorities accuse Moscow of being behind the poisoning.

"We will inform everyone if such information is true," Andreeva told journalists in response to a question whether the European Commission planned to boycott the upcoming world football championship in Russia this summer, reports Tass news agency.

Andreeva added, however, that currently no representative of the European Commission was ready to say if he or she would be in attendance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

"I cannot confirm at the moment the attendance of officials from the European Commission," she said.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 79 days with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in Moscow.