Russia 2018 : foreign fans spend N539.5 billion

Nigerian fans and their other counterparts across the globe that graced the just ended World cup in Russia spent an estimated N539.5billion (about $1.5bn), Russia’s Sberbank has revealed.

The state-owned banking and financial services company analysed usage of foreign credit cards during the World Cup, taking into consideration all credit cards purchases, cash payments and currency conversions within its network to arrive at the submission made public on Monday.

During the month long event which ran from June 16 to July 15 foreign citizens’ expenses in Russia doubled when compared with the same period last year.

According to its analysis, football fans spent most of their money on hotels and restaurants, with the largest expense surge registered in the sports goods segment.

Sberbank’s report also shows that consumers have moved away from cash payments, with just 8.2 per cent of all expenses being covered by ATM cash withdrawals.

“Foreign fans were most active during the second week of the group stage,” the report reads.

“In July, the level of representation of countries that had left the tournament fell as fans started leaving, but the overall volume of expenses remained at the same level as during the first two weeks of the tournament.”