VLADIMIR Putin’s regime may have instilled fear into England fans after it was revealed only 2,000 tickets have been sold for the nation’s opening game against Tunisia on Monday as Britain’s relationship with the Kremlin continues to deteriorate.
World News: News-CFTimes
Only 2,000 England football fans are expected to attend the nation’s opening World Cup game against Tunisia on Monday.
The number is massively lower than expected.
It is unlikely the total number of fans who have travelled to Russia for the group matches will exceed 3,000.
The Telegraph reported according to the Football Supporters’ Federation, which coordinates overseas fans’ travel with the Foreign Office and the Football Association, 2,100 tickets were sold to England fans for the opening match.
England are understood to have failed to sell their allocation for both the Tunisia match and the team’s second game against Panama.
Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Federation, said 2,000 tickets had been sold for each of the other two games.
The poor sales are being blamed on Britain’s plummeting relations with Russia, which have been triggered by the Kremlin’s alleged plot to assassinate Sergei Skripal, the former spy, and his daughter in a nerve agent attack in Salisbury back in March.
However Sir Andrew Wood, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the turnout was as much to do with disappointments at previous tournaments.
He said: “There must be some sort of Skripal effect and warnings that phones will be hacked.
“The other problem is expectation is pretty low.”
In contrast to Russia, it is estimated about 10,000 fans travelled to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.
Reports suggested as many as 200,000 fans, that included English, Welsh and Northern Irish supporters, travelled to France for Euro 2016 although many did not possess tickets.
Fifa has declared 32,400 tickets had been sold to fans living in England for this year's tournament in Putin's superstate.
A total of 5,000 of these are believed to be for the final which are given back assuming England do not make it that far.
According to Mr Miles, many of the tickets have gone to foreign fans who live in England.
Currently, England ranks 10th on the list of ticket sales.
In total, 2.4 million tickets have been sold globally, with more than a third purchased in the host nation of Russia.
The US, who did not even qualify, has bought 89,000 tickets.
The number is massively lower than expected.
It is unlikely the total number of fans who have travelled to Russia for the group matches will exceed 3,000.
The Telegraph reported according to the Football Supporters’ Federation, which coordinates overseas fans’ travel with the Foreign Office and the Football Association, 2,100 tickets were sold to England fans for the opening match.
England are understood to have failed to sell their allocation for both the Tunisia match and the team’s second game against Panama.
Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Federation, said 2,000 tickets had been sold for each of the other two games.
The poor sales are being blamed on Britain’s plummeting relations with Russia, which have been triggered by the Kremlin’s alleged plot to assassinate Sergei Skripal, the former spy, and his daughter in a nerve agent attack in Salisbury back in March.
However Sir Andrew Wood, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the turnout was as much to do with disappointments at previous tournaments.
He said: “There must be some sort of Skripal effect and warnings that phones will be hacked.
“The other problem is expectation is pretty low.”
In contrast to Russia, it is estimated about 10,000 fans travelled to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.
Reports suggested as many as 200,000 fans, that included English, Welsh and Northern Irish supporters, travelled to France for Euro 2016 although many did not possess tickets.
Fifa has declared 32,400 tickets had been sold to fans living in England for this year's tournament in Putin's superstate.
A total of 5,000 of these are believed to be for the final which are given back assuming England do not make it that far.
According to Mr Miles, many of the tickets have gone to foreign fans who live in England.
Currently, England ranks 10th on the list of ticket sales.
In total, 2.4 million tickets have been sold globally, with more than a third purchased in the host nation of Russia.
The US, who did not even qualify, has bought 89,000 tickets.
Some Amazing News
