Moscow officials say the city is ready for the Champions League final
between Chelsea and Manchester United on May 21.

SHOWS: (W3) MOSCOW, RUSSIA(MAY 2, 2008) REUTERS -

Moscow is as ready as it can be to cope with the influx of thousands
of British soccer fans expected when the Russian capital hosts the Champions
League final between Chelsea and Manchester United on May 21, officials said
on Friday (May 2).
    Moscow has been planning for the match for two years, but with two
British clubs facing each other, the fixture is likely to create huge
logistical challenges for the organisers.
    Not least has been laying grass, specially brought from Slovakia, to
replace temporarily the artifical pitch.
    Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Friday, deputy city mayor
Valery Vinogradov said: "We have the necessary infrastructure to fulfil
this international sports project. We fulfilled all our promises to the city
and we did even more than that."
    Arrangements are complicated by a diplomatic row between Moscow and
London over the 2006 murder in the British capital of Kremlin critic Alexander
Litvinenko. The dispute has affected the issuing of some types of entry visa.

    Chelsea and United have both been allocated 21,000 tickets for the
match at the Luzhniki stadium.
    Special measures at the Russian embassy in Britain are in place to
ensure speedy visas for fans to travel, officials have said. 
     Referring to travel arrangements, Alexei Sorokin, the Russian football
association's project manager for the final, said: "We expect very soon
some unprecedented decisions on the part of the government of the Russian
Federation that will significantly simplify access for organised supporters
from England charters arranged by the companies that have relations with the
club or approved by the club. That system will, as we expect, concern mostly
day travellers or two-day travellers. Only supporters who come in organised
fashions specifically for the final."
    Currently, tourists wishing to visit Russia must arrange for an
invitation, usually from a tourist agency, before filling out a visa
application.
    Vinogradov added: "For those supporters who come into Moscow,
until the event (match) in Moscow, they will have the opportunity to see the
sights and they can follow the tourist routes; to have some lunch and a chance
to have a drink in the bars. Because, given such a long interval between the
arrival of the fans and the start of the match, as for the hotels, we have met
all of the UEFA conditions and our promises and we promise to provide
officially booked rooms. We are also aware that clubs are making bookings in
hotels and as far as I am aware they succeeded in doing that."