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RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE WITH NIGERIA’S WORLD CUP ARENA CONTRACT ARRESTED

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Reports from Russia has it that the police has arrested one Ziyavudin Magomedov, a multi billionaire whose company is saddled with the construction of  the stadium in Kaliningrad, the arena where Nigeria will face Croatia in a Group D opener.

According reports gathered by www.sportsvillagesquare.com,  Ziyavudin Magomedov, who is worth $1.4 billion according to the Russian Forbes magazine, was arrested Saturday along with his brother after the court refused to release him on bail of 2.5 billion rubles ($44 million) — the sum police say he embezzled from government infrastructure contracts.

The Kaliningrad stadium which hosts the Nigeria versus Croatia on June 16 has suffered delay in completion. The stadium is due for commissioning next week.

According to an AFP report, a company in Magomedov’s Summa group was involved in using sand to stabilize the marshy area on which the stadium was built. There were disputes about the quality of the work, which was done between 2014 and 2016.

Like many other Russian tycoons with previously close ties to leading officials, Magomedov has received lucrative government contracts.

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The 49-year-old businessman from Russia’s Dagestan owns Summa, a sprawling conglomerate that includes energy, infrastructure, construction and agriculture assets.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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