Firm police and a lot of weather, but it won’t be a party!
THE last stage of qualification might have been lamentable for England but supporters can now prepare to follow the national team across Russia next summer. British police chiefs expect between 10,000 and 20,000 travelling English fans to join the one million supporters who gather in a country attaching huge importance to the event passing off successfully under the global spotlight. So what can England supporters expect? IAN HERBERT answers the key questions about the likely Russia experience
HOW WILL RUSSIA POLICE THOSE ONE MILLION FANS?
FIRMLY, but probably more fairly than many think. Senior British officers view their Russian counterparts as sophisticated practitioners of ‘intelligence-led’ policing, who identify troublemakers through the work of ‘spotters’ working within crowds.
But Britain’s top football police officer, Assistant Chief Constable Mark Roberts, has told the Mail on Sunday that there are concerns some England fans will continue to indulge in offensive nationalistic chanting which will be viewed by Russians as laying down ‘a challenge’. ACC Roberts, head of the Football Policing Unit, said: ‘It’s indicative of an imperialistic mindset, saying, “We are here, on your ground” and that can provoke a hostile reaction. Last season, there was a 30 per cent increase in disorder at our domestic games.’ He urged fans to consider that their chants may offend other nationalities.
WHAT ABOUT RACIST BEHAVIOUR IN RUSSIA?
THAT might prove a bigger problem than maintaining public order. There’s a genuine risk of players — English included — being subjected to racist chants in a country which racially is comparatively unenlightened and, in many parts, views black faces as a novelty. Moscow’s chief human rights ombudswoman said on Thursday that nearly 100 cases of racism were recorded between 2014 and 2016 at stadiums across Moscow. UEFA are investigating monkey chants directed at Liverpool academy player Bobby Adekanye by Spartak Moscow fans two weeks ago. The ombudswoman, Tatyana Potyayeva, said that 21 of the recorded 99 acts of racism, discrimination and xenophobia constituted a ‘real attack’.
WILL THE TRANSPORT SYSTEM BE UP TO IT?
IT seems like it. It is hard to over-emphasise how important a successful World Cup is to the Putin regime and there have been reports from Russia in the past month that extra flights will be laid on. There is also a free train service between venues for ticket holders. The Russian train system is generally effective and punctual. The four-hour express train from St Petersburg to Moscow has TV screens and wifi. Metros in Moscow and ‘Saint Pete’ — as the northern city is universally known — are an effective alternative to road networks, which can be jammed, Moscow’s thoroughfares particularly. Kazan still lacks a comprehensive metro system and at the Confederations Cup last summer there was an hourlong walk from stadium to city on poorly lit roads. It’s holiday time if England play at Sochi’s beachfront stadium. But avoid the old Sochi city, which is a 35-minute drive away.
WILL A VISA BE TRICKY TO OBTAIN?
NO. The key to getting to World Cup matches is the ‘Fan-ID’, which you must get before travelling to Russia. This photographic pass allows holders to get match tickets and secure a free Russian visa. Other benefits include free bus, metro and train travel. Apply for one as soon as you have an official ticket. Supporters without one won’t be able to get into matches. That means countries which are traditionally followed by large groups of ticketless fans — like England — should have fewer fans in tow.
HOW ABOUT THE WEATHER OVER THERE?
AS unpredictable as Manchester in mid-summer. Though England’s probable base in the north may introduce fans to St Petersburg — a beautiful site with a design based on Amsterdam — its rainy weather is one of the reasons why they called it ‘the melancholy city’. The weekend it hosted the Confederations Cup final in July brought heavy rain, strong winds and glorious sunshine in one 24-hour period. Moscow is also as likely to bring 25C heat as deluges. Sochi, a sun-kissed Black Sea resort, offers more certainties.
WHAT WILL THE RUSSIAN PARTY BE LIKE?
NOT so good, if the state of the national team is anything to go by. In his recent autobiography, ‘Russian Winters’, the former Manchester United player Andrei Kanchelskis laments the footballing fragmentation caused by the collapse of the old Soviet Union. Stanislav Cherchesov’s team were eliminated in the group stage of the Confederations Cup. Cherchesov has a huge task simply to avoid Russia becoming only the second host nation (after South Africa) not to make it out of a World Cup group stage.