An official FIFA delegation arrived in the Russian city of St. Petersburg Wednesday to examine progress on construction of the city's much-maligned Zenit Arena, which is set to play a major role in Russia's hosting of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The construction of the stadium on St. Petersburg's Krestovsky Island has been rocked by a series of corruption and mismanagement scandals and looks set to cost over one billion US dollars once finally completed in 2015.

Despite these setbacks, however, the FIFA commission, headed by Organizing Committee Chairman Jurgen Muller, was satisfied that the stadium and supporting infrastructure would be ready in time and would meet FIFA standards.

Once completed, the new Zenit Arena is also set to become the new home of local club side Zenit St. Petersburg.