Could Russian President Vladimir Putin's War Games in Ukraine become a threat not only to world peace but also to the World Cup?

Despite the current uneasy truce there is growing concern - not least, I understand, within FIFA - that if Putin does not abandon his expansionist ambitions contingency plans will need to be drawn up as an alternative for the 2018 tournament scheduled to be hosted by Russia.

This is already deeply troubled because of a slumping economy caused by Russia's plunging oil revenue and Western sanctions over the Ukraine invasion.

While English football can flash the cash thanks to that record-breaking £5.1 billion ($7.8 billion/€6.8 billion) satellite TV deal, in Russia the game is on the breadline.

So much so that Putin is to call on Premier League connections to help his nation out of a financial hole over staging the event. Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, and Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal's second biggest investor, are among the oligarchs being asked to assist in the bankrolling of a World Cup in danger from both the Ukraine situation and an impending domestic recession.

The Russian Sports Minister Vitaliy Mutko has already announced a ten per cent cut in the World Cup's original $22 billion (£14.3 billion/€19.3 billion) budget while FIFA president Sepp Blatter, apparently alarmed at a potential crisis, has suggested the number of venues could be reduced.

So far this notion has been rejected, though Mutko says Russia will be looking to simplify the design of the World Cup stadia without compromising FIFA's requirements.

Russian oligarchs like Roman Abramovich may be forced to dip into their deep pockets to help the nations' World Cup preparations ©Getty Images



The stadiums are only a small part of the overall construction for the World Cup. There are 11 host cities that will require new highways, airport expansions, train links, metro lines and giant hotels that are unlikely to be used again - as has happened in Sochi, scene of Russia's last global sporting extravaganza, the $51 billion (£33 billion/€45 billion) Winter Olympics a year ago.

For Sochi, the Russian Government produced a detailed plan of infrastructure to be built - from arenas to new sewage works. By contrast, it's unclear what projects will be commissioned for the World Cup, apart from the stadiums. Plans for the World Cup infrastructure - rail lines estimated to be worth $14 billion (£9 billion/€12 billion at the time - have been repeatedly revised and are likely to be reviewed further.

The rouble's plunge also means the price of building materials will soar, causing the World Cup to far exceed its original budget.

Sochi has seen few benefits from hosting the Olympics. Promises that the Games would solve problems such as poor transportation and electricity remain unfulfilled.

Unlike Sochi, it was planned for the World Cup to be largely funded directly by the Kremlin, either through the federal budget or state-owned companies, with only a few oligarchs asked to put their hands in their deep pockets.

Mutko now confirms the Kremlin are looking to attract more substantial investment from private donors, but he would not say who these might be. However other Russian sources say Putin plans to call in favours from obliging oligarchs such as Abramovich and Usmanov.

The latter, said to be Russia's richest man, is also reportedly loaning nearly £4 million ($6 million/€5.5 million) to cover the salary of national coach Fabio Capello.

Russia's manager Fabio Capello reportedly received a helping hand in being paid his substantial yearly wage ©Getty Images

While Sochi witnessed the most expensive Games, Winter or Summer, in history, it is already evident that the World Cup will not be anywhere near as lavish as President Putin had demanded. And if the economy worsens, it could end up being run on a shoestring.

Or perhaps not at all should the situation in Ukraine escalate into military conflict with the West.

Which, say some observers, is why Putin - surely too shrewd a cookie to risk not only national ignominy but international opprobrium by putting the World Cup at risk - may be spurred towards a permanent political settlement over Ukraine.

But first he needs to get Russia's super-rich émigrés on board, probably by offering substantial tax incentives in return.

Sam Greene, director of King's Russia Institute at King's College London, says: "There seems to be something of an emerging understanding that the Government will help the titans of the economy to maintain the liquidity they need to stay in business.

"In return for that, they remain quiet, they remain loyal, but they also maintain employment and they keep moving money through the economy."

And no doubt into the Kremlin's World Cup coffers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely need financial help if his country are to deliver the World Cup they have promised in 2018 ©Getty Images



Yet despite the growing uncertainty, a recent opinion poll showed that most Russians expect the World Cup to be good for the economy and believe the Winter Olympics also brought an economic boom. A boom which has now gone bust.

As it happens the World Cup is not the only major sports event to be affected by economic pressures brought about by plummeting oil prices.

Edmonton, known as the oil capital of Canada, has been forced to abort its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games again. Instead it says it will be reluctantly "re-focussing" on 2026" - leaving the field open for the only other bidder, Durban.

This may be good news for South Africa, but not for the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) as there appears to be dwindling interest in staging the event.

This begs the question of how many other oil-producing countries may have to re-think any future involvement with World Championships and other international sports events if the black stuff sends them spiralling into the red.

Perish the thought that it could happen to Qatar, who have a whole host of them lined up, including of course the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Yet only last month Royal Dutch Shell and its partner Qatar Petroleum ditched a $6.5 billion (£4.3 billion/€5.7 billion) petrochemicals project in the Gulf state,  the latest sign of the broadening impact of falling oil and gas prices on the region's energy industry.

Obviously this is no time to be thinking of pouring oil on sport's troubled waters.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.