Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the 2018 World Cup will ramp up the quality of life in Russia so much that it will help reduce crime and get a nation more healthy, according to AP. Putin also says that the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will bring the kind of infrastructure to the southern Black Sea resort that it might never have seen in 100 years. It was Putin's personal goal to bring both top sporting events to Russia as part of a wider drive to raise its prestige abroad. Russia will need to dramatically upgrade infrastructure in 13 cities to prepare to host World Cup matches. It is also remodeling Sochi from a tacky Soviet-era vacation resort to a Monaco-style destination of glamor and glitz in a project estimated to cost more than $30 billion.
