Up to 50,000 British fans are expected in the Russian capital for the match between Chelsea and Manchester United on Wednesday night, while all hotel accommodation has been booked up for weeks.
Huge signs welcoming fans for the first all-English final are evident all over Moscow. Many supporters have already made their way to Red Square where special club pavilions have been erected.
The government has also asked Manchester United and Chelsea fans to “show respect” to their hosts.
However, the Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko promised there would be no “heavy-handed” policing and said the authorities would act to ensure there were no revenge attacks for the stabbing of a Russian at last week’s Uefa Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester
“In Manchester, I saw 100,000 Scots fans. I don’t want to see the same pictures in Moscow. We want it to be a great event or festival,” he said.
“I urge you to respect our customs and the people who live in the city. In football there is always a winner and a loser and I ask the losing fans, who will obviously be disappointed, to behave.
“You cannot predict what can happen in football but we will make sure that our guests will be taken care of, that they feel safe and feel our hospitality and have a great time.
“We will do everything we can to ensure the police and military will act in a proper and calm way. We will also make sure there will be no revenge attacks from hooligans.”
The interior minister, Valery Gribakin, said that drinking alcohol openly on the streets will not be tolerated and there will be no big screens erected for fans to watch the match on.
Many supporters arriving tomorrow will be taken directly from the airport to the stadium by bus and kept in separate “camps” before the match.
“We’ll be having English translators around the stadium, in the metro and in Red Square,” said Vyacheslav Kozlov, a Moscow police official.
“I urge you to respect our customs and the people who live in the city ” Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s sports minister.
By Jeremy Wilson, http://www.telegraph.co.uk
