The Russian government has ordered 30 billion roubles (around £352m) in cuts in spending on the 2018 World Cup finals, according to Russian news agencies.

No reason was given for the decision, but Russia has been hit by an economic downturn worsened by Western economic sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine and a fall in the global price of oil.

The news agencies, quoting a decree issued by the government, said total spending on the tournament would now be 631.5 billion (around £7.42billion).

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko was also quoted as saying the building and renovation of stadiums would not be affected and that the savings would mostly be over work on hotels.

"We're optimizing and cutting expenses," Mutko told Russian agency R-Sport. "First of all we're removing the excess number of hotels."



FIFA denied the cuts would mean a shortage of hotel rooms for fans in 2018.



"As any other entity with operations in Russia, FIFA keeps a close eye on the financial situation in Russia," FIFA said in an emailed statement.



"Based on the information provided by the local organizing committee and the Ministry of Sports, the revisions to the project budget will not impact on the delivery of general infrastructure required ... including the provision of sufficient accommodation."

President Vladimir Putin says he is confident Russia will host the finals despite investigations into alleged corruption at FIFA and probes into how Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 finals respectively.