Russia has slashed more than $500 million from its official budget for the 2018 World Cup after spending cuts on hotels and infrastructure.
The government is curbing most areas of public spending as the economy contracts due to the low price of oil.
An order signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and published June 22 cuts the total World Cup budget by 29.2 billion rubles ($544 million) to 631.5 billion rubles ($11.8 billion).
Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said in April that the government would reduce the number of luxury hotels, warning they could remain empty after the tournament.
The reduction in the number of hotels was confirmed in law on June 22.
More than half of the total budget will be funded by the federal government, which is providing 335 billion rubles ($6.25 billion).
