Forgiving Russians invite Robbie to kickstart World Cup

In a music video with ballerinas dancing around him, Williams sings about a leader who “alleviates the cash from a whole entire nation, takes loose change and builds his own space station”, and adds: “Ain’t no refutin’ or disputin’ – I’m a modern Rasputin.”

The tongue-in-cheek track, which appears to criticise Russian oligarchs like footie bosses Alisher Usmanov of Arsenal and Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich, includes the lyrics “subcontract disputes to some brutes in Louboutin, act highfalutin’ while my boys put the boots in”.

At the time, Russian media outlets criticised Williams’ “offensive” stereotyping, while others predicted he would never play in the country again.

“This will upset those who previously wanted him to perform, who brought him to Moscow, or wanted him to perform at their events abroad,” said Sergey Knyazev of the National Association of Event Organisers.

But the storm seems to have blown over and Williams, whose hits include Angels and Let Me Entertain You, will perform before the Russia v Saudi Arabia game which kicks off the tournament.

Williams said he was “happy and excited” about the “unique performance” in front of 80,000 fans at the World Cup.

He added: “We’d like to invite football and music fans to party with us in Russia, in the stadium, or to tune in their TVs for an unforgettable show.”

It is not known whether or not he will include Party Like A Russian in his set.

Russian soprano Aida Garifullina will also entertain the crowd in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

A spokeswoman for football’s world governing body Fifa said: “We are extremely happy to have been able to gather such a high-level line-up of artists for the opening ceremony.”

What got Robbie into trouble

Party like a Russian, oh

Have it like an oligarch

I’ve got Stoli and Bolly and Molly, so I’m jolly

And I’m always off my trolley, so I never say sorry

There’s a doll, inside a doll, inside a doll, inside a dolly (Hello, Dolly)

I put a bank inside a car, inside a plane, inside a boat

It takes half the western world just to keep my ship afloat

And I never ever smile unless I’ve something to promote

I just won’t emote