Organisers of the 2018 World Cup in Russia have been asked to “tighten up” the construction of the St Petersburg venue after FIFA expressed its “concern” at progress being made.

Colin Smith, director of competitions for the world football governing body, visited the site earlier this week, highlighting “several construction matters” that were of concern and the “necessity for tighter project coordination”.

FIFA has requested that the city’s authorities produce feedback over the next two weeks on “key areas of concern”.

“Given that St Petersburg is playing a key role in the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017, FIFA will be closely monitoring,” said a FIFA statement.

The 69,000-capacity stadium – which is costing US$1bn (£682.4m, €894.9m) to construct – is expected to play an important role in the World Cup, and has also been chosen as one of the four venues for the Confederations Cup (the precursor to the World Cup) next summer.

However, the project has been hit with several delays, cost increases and allegations of mismanagement.

In March, Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko told the state news agency that the development was three months behind schedule due to financial concerns involving contractors. The stadium is due to be up and running by the end of the year.