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Fans of opposing World Cup football teams to be kept apart, vows FSB border service

Additional technical means have been obtained for the World Cup, including devices for checking documents, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Security Service’s Border Service said

MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Fans of opposing football teams arriving in Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be kept apart right upon their arrival, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Border Service, Colonel General Igor Shmotkin, told TASS on Monday.

"In accordance with the international practice of hosting major sports events, the participants in the championship will be passing through border controls separately from the rest of the passengers," he noted. "Besides, we are planning to keep apart the flows of opposing teams’ fans as they pass through border control," the general added.

He said that the necessary modifications have been made to the border crossing procedures "to create convenient conditions for participants and guests of the championship crossing the state border." He said that in order to cope with a large flow of passengers, the Border Service together with the Transport Ministry have taken steps to beef up the border control points.

"Additional technical means have been obtained for the World Cup, including devices for checking documents," he said, adding that about 300 additional passport control booths will be installed.

"We will do our best to ensure favorable conditions for fans going through border formalities," Shmotkin said.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 above-mentioned cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.