After the debacle for many Liverpool fans in Athens last season, it appeared as though more of the same could have been on the cards for supporters of Manchester United and Chelsea who are making the trip to Russia to see their team play in the Champions League final. There had been talk of fans needing a visa in order to gain access to the country, which could have been an administrative nightmare.

However, the BBC report that the Russian authorities have backed down over their requirements and stated that, as long as fans have a match ticket, along with passport and immigration forms, they wll not have to bother with a visa after all. This could also serve the dual purpose of making sure that fans without tickets don’t bother travelling to Moscow.

“This is great news for football fans travelling to watch this year’s UEFA Champions League final in Moscow,” said Platini.

“Our job is to make sure that they are able to get to and from Moscow as easily as possible.

“I am therefore extremely pleased that at my request, all fans travelling with a valid match ticket can use this to enter Russian territory.

“For this I must thank wholeheartedly the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, the Russian government, the city of Moscow and the Football Union of Russia for this exceptional and unprecedented gesture.”

In predictable fashion, each club have only received 21,000 tickets each for the encounter, with the remaining 27,500 being dished out to corporate sponsors and the like.

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