World Cup 2018: Russian police release details of bomb hoax in city that hosted Iceland vs Croatia the same evening

Bars, restaurants and hotels across the city were evacuated when local police received multiple threats

Russian police has released the details of multiple bomb threats they received on Tuesday which led to 16 venues being evacuated in Rostov-on-Don after the city hosted a World Cup 2018 match.

Bars, restaurants and hotels across the city were evacuated when local police received multiple phone calls saying that bombs had been planted in around the city - on the same day as Iceland's final Group D game against Croatia.

"On June 26, police received a series of phone calls about explosives planted at locations in Rostov-on-Don," local police said in a statement.

“Police forces made all the necessary checks and no dangerous objects were found,” Wednesday’s statement added. “Currently, all the venues are operating normally.”

Russia are keen to ensure that the World Cup portrays a positive image of strength and stability to the eyes of the world, and authorities had vowed to host a safe and secure event.

Listed as an official World Cup hotel by Fifa although no team was staying there, the Topos Congress-Hotel in Rostov was evacuated at around 20:00 GMT on Tuesday, and a policeman at the scene said 16 venues across the city had been evacuated.

A hotel in Rostov-on-Don is evacuated (Reuters)

On another side of Rostov-on-Don, a restaurant manager said staff were told to evacuate the building for around two hours after receiving the bomb threat. “There was a phone call, an anonymous phone call, they said there was a bomb in the building,” said the manager.

Police attended the scene at the Topos Congress-Hotel and witnesses said that security services were questioning people on the streets and sniffer dogs were entering the building,

Located around 600 miles south of Moscow, Rostov-on-Don’s 25,000 capacity stadium hosted four World Cup group games and is the venue for one round of 16 match on Monday 2 July.

Last summer Russia was subject to a wave of hoax bomb threats, and the Russian Federal Security Services said in October that it had identified four Russian citizens behind that particular campaign. The hoaxers were living abroad and used internet phone services to call in anonymous threats.