Foreign Fan ID holders to be granted multiple visa-free entry to Russia till year end

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. Foreign holders of Fan IDs they used to attend matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will be granted multiple visa-free entry to Russia till the end of the current year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.

"I think we will do the following: foreign fans who have Fan IDs will be granted visa-free entry to Russia till the end of this year, multiple, and I repeat, visa-free entry," he said, adding he hopes foreign fans will use this possibility.

He said he had spoken about it with his foreign counterparts when we was congratulating the French and Croatian sides.

Putin said he would not like to recall "what was said ahead of the championship and how it was said." "Let us turn over this page, let us speak and think about the good," he noted.

"Naturally, I cannot but thank our guests - foreign tourists, foreign fans," he went on to say, adding that the Russian side has also been warned about possible hooliganism from, for instance, English fans. "But all behaved perfectly well, demonstrating the best qualities of sports fans. They demonstrated that sport and football can unite people on the basis of common principles and cultural and humanitarian values rather than disunite them," Putin stressed.

He noted that foreign fans have had an opportunity to learn more about Russia and its people. "Millions have changed their opinion about our country and it is a great result too," he added.

Russia had its first-ever edition of the FIFA World Cup from June 14 to July 15. Eleven host cities, namely Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara, were selected to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup.

The national football team of hosts Russia managed to make it to the quarterfinals stage of this world championship, where Croatia edged them out in a 4-2 penalty shootout on July 7 at the Fisht Arena in Sochi.

The FIFA World Cup Trophy went to France, which defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final match on Sunday.