ST. PETERSBURG, July 4. /TASS/. Around 43,000 foreigners ordered fan passports (Fan ID) to attend matches of the UEFA Euro2020 in St. Petersburg, press service of the Ministry of Digital Development told TASS.
On Friday, St. Petersburg hosted a quarterfinal match of the Euro2020, in which the Spanish national team beat the Swiss team (1:1, 3:1 - on penalties). Earlier, six group stage matches were held in St. Petersburg. A total of 132,752 fans attended the games.
"There were about 140,000 applications for Fan IDs to attend Euro2020 matches in St. Petersburg. Russian citizens have submitted 97,000 applications for Fan ID. Finnish citizens are in second place (10,500 passports), followed by Poland (4,200 passports), Estonia (1,500 passports), Sweden (1,500), Belgium (1,300), Belarus (950 passports), Germany (930 passports), Slovakia (920 passports), and the United States (900 passports)," the Ministry told TASS. The department explained the difference between the number of viewers and applications for Fan ID by the fact that not all fan passports were eventually received; in addition, some football fans lost their Fan ID and left repeated applications.
The Ministry also noted that more often than other Fan IDs were ordered by Russian and foreign fans aged 25 to 34 years old, as well as 35-44 years old. Three quarters of all those who ordered a Fan IDs were men. The oldest fan who attended Euro 2020 in St. Petersburg is 94 years old, the youngest was born in April 2021.
The stadium capacity in St. Petersburg during the Euro was 61,000 spectators. Due to restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, no more than 30,500 fans could be present in the stands, which is 50% of the arena's capacity. On average, 18,965 spectators were present at seven matches in the Russian city.
Fan ID is Russia’s innovation as the organizer of the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup. This is a personalized spectator card that should have been received by every person who bought a ticket to the tournament matches. The fan passport gave the right to free travel between the cities where the world championship matches were held, as well as on city public transport, commuter trains and aeroexpress trains, and for foreign citizens - visa-free entry to the territory of Russia during the tournament.
The European Championship, postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, started on June 11, the final match will take place on July 11.