UEFA hopes to announce within 48 hours that they have struck a deal with the Russian authorities to ease visa problems for the 50,000-plus English fans heading to Moscow for the Champions League final.
European football's governing body have been in talks with the Russians about a simplified procedure for supporters to obtain visas, probably linked to when the clubs issue the tickets for the final.
Each club will have 23,500 tickets to distrib
ute to their supporters.
Uefa also believes that security problems in Moscow will not be a problem for the all-English final – but that logistical problems could be faced at the England end in terms of flying all the fans to the Russian capital. Uefa communications director William Gaillard said: "The Russians have shown great flexibility and hopefully within the next 48 hours we will be announcing a more simplified procedure for visas to make it easier for fans to get to Moscow.
"There are different possibilities but we are close to achieving what we want. We just have to make some choices, together with the Russian authorities.
If we had reached a conclusion earlier we may not have been able to obtain as good an agreement as we hope to have now."
Russian police made tactical planning visits to witness English forces dealing with the Liverpool v Arsenal and Manchester United v Roma quarter-finals last month.
Gaillard said: "The Russian police have been helped by the English police to a great extent and we do not envisage security problems in Moscow – in terms of size it is a similar event to two large clubs going to London for an FA Cup final.
"It is not the first time there has been such a situation for the Champions League final – we had AC Milan v Juventus in Manchester and Real Madrid v Valencia in Paris.
"The main issues for us are the airport capacities and air transport capacity because there will be more than 50,000 people coming from Britain and all by air."
Manchester United have already begun making plans and insist fans would be able to get visas more easily than usual if they followed club guidelines.
"Supporters travelling with charter flights approved by the club will benefit from an unprecedented facilitated visa procedure that will be detailed in the days to come," United said in a statement on their website.
The Russian consulate in London sought to reassure thousands of fans hoping to travel that they would get their visas despite the tight timeframe. Postal applicants are usually advised to allow ten days for processing a tourist visa.
"When Moscow was given the privilege of hosting this major sports event, the Russian side pledged to create most favourable conditions, including travel arrangements, for all the people attending the final," the consulate said in a statement.
"We intend to fulfil our obligations and ensure that all the supporters will be able to travel to the final venue."
Meanwhile, Barclays Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore says he will not press for a change of venue.
"Absolutely not," said Scudamore.
"It is an important part of football development in Moscow and Russia and therefore there is no way we would get involved in suggesting that.
"Clearly it is a logistical challenge for fans. But it will be an exciting challenge. There are going to be stories to tell grandchildren about how you got there, and how it all happened – it is going to be fantastic."
The full article contains 595 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
