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Zabivaka is the official mascot for the FIFA World Cup 2018. Zabivaka is a wolf and made its way as the official mascot after voting by over 1 Million fans during the month of September 2016. On October 22, 2016, in a live event FIFA unveiled the name of official mascot for the games to be played in Russia. FIFA also followed the same selection procedure for naming the last world cup’s official match ball. However, this was one of the most engaging selection processes of Mascot for a sporting event.
The details about official mascot are as follows:-
| Name of the Official Mascot | Zabivaka |
| Meaning of the word Zabivaka | the one who scores (the goalscorer) |
| Animal symbolizes | Wolf |
| Designer | Ekaterina Bocharova |
| Qualities | Fun-loving, Charming and Confident |
About Zabivaka
The official mascot for the world cup 2018 is a wolf named Zabivaka. Zabivaka in Russian means “the one who scores” or “the goalscorer”. (Zabivaka is the trademark of FIFA)
Other contenders for mascot 2018
Zabivaka was not the alone up for selection, he made his way to Russia with 53% votes getting 537522 votes out of total 1016798. The Tiger got 272012 votes i.e 27% votes and stayed at second place while the Cat with 207264 was at third place with only 20% votes. The voting was done through three platforms i.e. Social networks, Official FIFA website and Tv shows.
The Selection Process
Initially Russian School kids were asked for their choice through an online poll. After that the design was made by Russian University Students and finally by online voting Russian public selected the official mascot. In one way we can say that entire Russia contributed for the selection of Zabivaka the official mascot.
Roles of Zabivaka
The role of any mascot is huge and our wolf is not behind, he can shoulder any responsibility. Zabivaka has a role to inspire a wide population to attend the games in the stadium. He radiates confidence, charm and fun which will inspire the player to perform well in Russia. In highly tensed games zabivaka will ease out tension from the players and spectators. The significance of mascot is not limited to football field, it represents the entire country and its mood.
Zabivaka will also be the Mascot for FIFA Confederations Cup 2017.
