MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The Russian State Duma lower parliament house on Tuesday passed in the first reading a bill on visa-free entry to Russia for holders of Fan IDs they used to attend matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup till the end of the current year.

Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup from June 14 through July 15, 2018. Holders of Fan ID’s who had tickets to the tournament’s matches needed no visa to enter Russia. After the championship, Russian President Vladimir Putin came out with an initiative to grant foreign holders of Fan IDs multiple visa-free entry to Russia till the yearend. A corresponding bill was submitted to the State Duma on July 17 by the leaders of the four factions.

"The bill was prepared on the basis of a positive experience of the organization of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and is geared to extend visa-free entry till December 31, 2018 for those who visited football matches in Russia and have Fan IDs," according to the explanatory note to the bill.

Chairman of the Duma committee on physical culture, sports, tourism and youth affairs, Mikhail Degtyarev, told TASS the bill would be voted in the second reading on Wednesday.