MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia has slashed over $500 million from its official budget for the 2018 World Cup after cutting spending on hotels and infrastructure.
The government is curbing most areas of public spending as the economy contracts due to the low oil price.
An order signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and published Monday 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 revealed in April that the government had decided to slash the number of luxury hotels, warning they could lie empty after the tournament.