World Cup organisers in the Russian city of Saransk, 630km east of Moscow, have signed a preliminary deal with the UK’s Snoozebox to build one of its "portable hotels" for the 2018 tournament.
Accommodating the expected one million fans in the 11 host cities has become a major issue, according to Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko.
London Stock Exchange-listed Snoozebox provides modular accommodation comprised of prefabricated, stackable, shipping-container-style units that can be set up for events and taken away again.Â
Its hotels have been used at the UK’s Glastonbury music festival and France’s Le Mans auto race.
If the Saransk Snoozebox project goes ahead, the portable hotel will be erected beside the Lukhovka reservoir near planned World Cup stadium in Saransk, a city of 300,000 people, the English-language newspaper Moscow Times reported, quoting Russian news agency Interfax.
The hotel would have 2,000 rooms ranging from two-star to four-star. It would have restaurants, shops and large screens for watching the games, the report said.