Safety fears grow for fans in Russia

Fears for the security of england supporters at the World Cup are mounting after russia expelled a key officer responsible for the safety of British fans. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson also revealed that ticket applications by British fans are 75 per cent down compared to the same stage ahead of the last World Cup in Brazil. The Foreign Office accused the russians of making safety plans ‘more challenging’ and urged Vladimir Putin’s regime to take steps to help english fans. speaking to the foreign affairs select committee, Johnson expressed concern that the British diplomat responsible for liaising with fans had been sent back to the UK as part of a russian retaliatory act after Prime Minister Theresa May expelled 23 russian diplomats following the poisoning of the former spy sergei skripal in salisbury. The russians are also set to shut down the British consulate in st Petersburg. Johnson said: ‘One of the consequences of the expulsions that we had from Moscow was that we lost the officer who was going to be responsible for our fans. You can’t imagine anything more counter-productive for the UK’s ability to help fans in russia.’

BORIS Johnson sparked fury in the Kremlin yesterday by comparing the Russian World Cup with Adolf hitler’s 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

The Foreign Secretary said the prospect of the Vladimir Putin ‘glorying’ in the tournament was nauseating – and he would hold Moscow responsible for the safety of england football fans.

It came as the Nato secretary-general said half the world’s military and economic might stood with Britain over the Salisbury nerve-agent attack on two Russians.

Writing exclusively for the Daily Mail, Jens Stoltenberg said that the use of chemical weapons was ‘unacceptable’, adding: ‘Russia will continue to seek to divide us. But Nato allies stand united.’

Theresa May will tonight warn EU leaders that their nations are ‘at risk’ from the growing threat posed by Putin’s regime – as Britain urges Western allies to follow the UK’s lead and expel Russian spies.

Mr Johnson said he was ‘deeply concerned’ about how travelling football supporters would be treated in the wake of Salisbury and a plunge in diplomatic relations with Moscow. This concern was heightened by the UK official responsible for the safety of football fans being among the 23 British diplomats being booted out of Russia, he said.

Giving evidence to MPs on the Commons’ foreign affairs committee yesterday, Mr Johnson escalated the war of words with Moscow following the poisoning of spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

he said he agreed with Labour MP Ian Austin, who had likened the World Cup to hitler’s use of the notorious 1936 Olympics as a propaganda vehicle for his regime.

Mr Johnson said: ‘I think the comparison with 1936 is certainly right. I think it’s an emetic prospect, frankly, to think of Putin glorying in this sporting event.’

hitler used the 1936 Olympics in Berlin to portray Nazi Germany as a tolerant, modern nation. It was later described as a huge propaganda triumph.

But the Kremlin said Mr Johnson’s comments were ‘unacceptable’ and ‘unworthy of a top european diplomat’. Foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said: ‘It is clear he is poisoned with hatred and anger, unprofessionalism and, therefore, boorishness.’ She said the comments were an ‘unworthy’ parallel toward Russia, a ‘nation that lost millions of lives in fighting Nazism’.

The row erupted as a senior Russian official described the Salisbury incident as a ‘blatantly framed illegal adventure’ and accused the British authorities of concealing evidence.

At a Russian foreign ministry event in Moscow, British diplomat emma Nottingham accused the Kremlin of a ‘barrage of distortion and disinformation’.

But Vladimir Yermakov, a diplomat who chaired the event, accused the UK of ‘Russophobia’ and an ‘island mentality’, adding: ‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?’

Meanwhile, speaking at Oxford Literary Festival yesterday, former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson called for a boycott of the World Cup. he said: ‘The fact that it was that particular nerve agent all suggests that it comes from Russia and it comes from the Kremlin so we have to take action. Britain, Germany, France and Italy should withdraw from the World Cup.’

Yesterday Mr Johnson said the Foreign Office was ‘very, very closely’ monitoring the situation for england fans looking to attend the tournament, which begins in June.

he said: ‘At the moment we are not inclined actively to dissuade people from going because we want to hear from the Russians what steps they are going to take to look after our fans.’