Dive Brief:

• Construction on the 2018 World Cup soccer stadium in the Russian town of Rostov is already seven months behind schedule, according to the Fèdèration Internationale de Football Association.

• Still, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke has said crews will work double shifts to ensure the venue will be ready by December 2017, FIFA’s drop-dead deadline for stadium completion.

• Problems also have delayed construction at two other 2018 arenas in Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod, sports minister Vitaly Mutko confirmed.  

Dive Insight:

This isn’t the first time World Cup stadium construction has come in under the wire. Several stadiums built for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil barely opened on time for the summer event, and some seating areas were unfinished when the championship games began.