Fans struggle to get Russian visa

The diplomatic row between Russia and the UK may prevent thousands of football fans travelling to Moscow for the first all English Champions League final.

The Russian embassy in London promised to process the 50,000 visa applications “as soon as possible”, however they also accused Britain of introducing unfair visa required on Russians after the murder of Alexander Litvineko in 2006.

Chelsea fans are already struggling to find a hotel rooms and flights, some flights for the 21^st May costing up to £1,500.

Suggestions have already been made to relocate the final to the UK if the visa situation is not resolved. Jon Keen the deputy chairman of the Football Supporters Federation said “The vast majority of fans will be outraged. This ought to be a sporting occasion and nothing to do with politics”.

Uefa have said an agreement on the visa requirements will be solved soon. “The Russians have shown great flexibility and hopefully within the next 48 hours we will be announcing a more simplified procedure of visas to make it easier for fans to get to Moscow” said William Gaillard, Uefa director of communications.

Both Chelsea and Manchester United have been allocated 21,000 tickets each and Uefa have issued 10,500 tickets to winners of a global lottery. A quarter of the seats in the Luzhniki stadium will go to dignitaries and corporate sponsors. The stadium can hold up to 69,500 people.

Some fans are believed to be trying to get into Russia via Latvia to try and cut costs. The Foreign Office is expected to issue special advice for fans travelling to Russia for the final; they warn that those without visas or tickets will not be allowed to enter the country.

The British Embassy have said “It isn’t politics. Its about football”. However the Russian embassy said “We are convinced that football lovers from both countries would have only benefited had the UK not decided in July 2007 to suspend negotiations with Russia in a bilateral agreement easing visa regulations and toughen the approach to Russian citizens applying for British visas”.

This was in response to the foreign secretary, David Miliband last summer, ending the practice of Russian officials being automatically given multiple six month visas.

There have also been concerns raised about fans safety in Moscow after there was trouble during England’s Euro 2008 qualifying match against Russia. Alexey Sorokin, the head of Russia’s Champions League Committee has said fans will be segregated when they arrive in Moscow, one teams fans will arrive into Domodedvo airport and the other teams using Vnukovo.