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Over 26,000 foreign guests received Fan-IDs for 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup — Deputy PM

Some 60,000 people used their privilege for the free-of-charge travel between the hosting cities, according to Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko

© Sergei Bobylyov/TASS

SOCHI, June 29. /TASS/. About 26,000 of the so-called ‘Fan-IDs,’ required for attending matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, were issued to foreigners for this year’s tournament of the world’s governing football body, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday.

"About 26,000 foreigners received the passports of football fans," Mutko, who is also the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), said. "Some 60,000 people used their privilege for the free-of-charge travel between the hosting cities."

Mutko also said that the security level in the hosting cities was currently at the highest possible level and the game of football during the previously played matches of the tournament was very qualitative.

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As part of the preparations for the prestigious FIFA tournaments, the Russian government decided to introduce the so-called fan-IDs.

The fan-ID plays an important role in the provision of security during the major football tournaments in Russia as they are granting admittance to the stadiums and also serve as visas for foreign visitors to enter the country.

A holder of the fan-ID is allowed to enter the country without having a Russian visa and stay for the duration of the global football tournament as well as for the period of ten days before and after the championship.

The second semifinal match of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup is scheduled to start in Sochi at 9:00 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT) at over 41,200-seat capacity Fisht Stadium, which was the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics and was then refurbished to host matches of the 2017 and 2018 FIFA Cups.

The first semifinal match of the 2017 Confederations Cup was held on Wednesday night at Kazan Arena, in the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, between Chile and Portugal. CONMEBAL Champions Chile defeated reigning UEFA Champs Portugal 3-0 in a penalty shootout following a thrilling, but scoreless encounter in Kazan.

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Russian Deputy PM says over 400,000 tickets sold for Confederations Cup matches

The match for the third place of this tournament will be held at Spartak Arena in Moscow on Sunday, July 2, at 3:00 p.m. Moscow time (12:00 GMT), while the final encounter for the champion’s title is scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT) in Russia’s second largest city of Saint Petersburg, which was also the venue for the opening game of this championship.

This year’s FIFA Confederations Cup is held between June 17 and July 2 at four stadiums in Russia and they are Spartak Stadium in Moscow, St. Petersburg Stadium, Fisht Stadium in Sochi and the Kazan Arena in Kazan.

Initially, the participants in the 2017 Confederations Cup were hosts Russia, 2014 FIFA World Cup Champions Germany, 2015 Copa America Champions Chile, 2015 AFC Asian Cup Champion Australia, 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners Mexico, 2016 UEFA Euro Cup champs Portugal, OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) Nations Cup victors New Zealand and 2017 CAF Africa Cup of Nations Champion Cameroon.

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