Fans reluctant to go to Russia with thousands of tickets still unsold
Thousands of tickets for England’s matches at the World Cup in Russia remain unsold three months before the tournament kicks off, it emerged yesterday.
Gareth Southgate’s side are in danger of opening their Russia 2018 campaign against Tunisia in front of swathes of empty seats, with the fixture one of just six of the 48 group matches with a “high availability” of tickets.
The only major football nation facing such a prospect, England’s second Group G game against Panama was also listed by Fifa’s website as having “medium availability” of tickets. And although there were none on sale for their final group match against Belgium, one of their two potential last-16 fixtures was the only knockout game with any tickets available.
Fifa’s latest sales figures showed England yet again failed to register in the top-10 nations requesting tickets for the tournament.
News of the disappointing sales comes as the Foreign Office updated its advice for football fans and others visiting Russia in the aftermath of the Russian-made nerve agent attacks on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia in Wiltshire on March 4, suggesting UK nationals should be “aware of the possibility of anti-british sentiment or harassment” due to “heightened political tensions between the UK and Russia”.
The British Embassy in Moscow was “not aware of any increased difficulties for British people travelling in Russia at this time” but recommended visitors “remain vigilant, avoid any protests or demonstrations and avoid commenting publicly on political developments”.
Southgate – who names his squads for the forthcoming friendlies against Holland and Italy today – is certain to face questions over whether he believes it is still safe for England to go to the World Cup as relations with Russia deteriorate.
The Football Association insist there are no plans to withdraw England from the finals, but Theresa May announced yesterday that no government ministers or members of the Royal Family – including FA president Prince William – would attend. With the Skripals still in a critical condition, May said the relationship between the countries “cannot be the same”.
When asked whether senior FA officials should also boycott the World Cup, she said: “I’m sure they will want to be considering their position. Attendance at sporting events is a matter for the sporting authorities – it’s a matter for them.”
England’s clash with Tunisia in Volgograd on June 18 had “medium availability” of Category Two tickets priced at 9,900 roubles (£125) and “high availability” of Category One tickets at 12,600 roubles (£159). The Panama game had “medium availability” of Category One tickets.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 England fans are expected to go to the World Cup, as opposed to the estimated 500,000 supporters from across the UK who attended Euro 2016 in France.