FIFA and the Local Organising Committee have announced that VK, an online social networking operator, has become a National Supporter of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™, which is taking place until 29 August. The St Petersburg-headquartered company has more than 97 million monthly users and unites people across Russia by enabling them to easily communicate. Via VK’s social network service, users can send messages, share stories and photos, listen to music, play games, join communities and discover a whole new world of talented artists. Local beach soccer supporters can follow the latest developments on FIFA’s official FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™ VK page.

“Fans in Russia followed the 2018 FIFA World Cup action closely on our VK channel and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with VK at this exciting beach soccer event,” said FIFA Director of Marketing Jean-François Pathy. “VK is uniquely positioned to engage with the enthusiastic local Russian audience and to amplify the excitement through our growing digital fan base.” Ivan Smelyanskiy, the Chief Marketing Officer at VK, said: “We are actively cooperating with FIFA and regularly support large sporting events. For these, we create engaging mechanics that help fans feel as much excitement as possible from the event. For other sporting events, VK has released emoji statuses with flags of the competing teams, which have been used millions of times by engaged fans. We are once again offering – this time to beach sports fans – ways for users to share their excitement and find out about important events, all on one platform.” The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2021™ is taking place at the Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena in Moscow. The event features the 16 best teams from around the world.