Hundreds of England fans "could expose a loophole in the Russian security service's ticketing system to travel to Russia for the World Cup." England supporters "have begun to trickle over the border" from Poland and Lithuania into Kaliningrad for the final group game against Belgium. The Football Supporters' Federation was able to obtain "a number of so‑called Fan IDs," which allow visa‑free travel into Russia to those who have a ticket for matches. Stringent checks are "supposed to be limited to one Fan ID per ticket" (London GUARDIAN, 6/26).
England's players will split a pot of £5M ($6.6M) if they win the World Cup -- but that is "only half as much as Belgium." The nations go head to head on Thursday in a game that determinesthe winner of Group G, but England's players head into the clash knowing they will earn "significantly less than their opponents if they lift the trophy in Moscow next month." The £5M works out to £217,000 ($285,500) per player. However, Belgium's team members can net £400,000 ($526,300) each for World Cup glory, a fund of £9.2M ($12.1M) (London DAILY MAIL, 6/26).
More than 14 million passengers "have watched World Cup games on the screens installed on Moscow Metro trains," according to city authorities. A total of 8,720 screens installed on 1,896 carriages of the Metro system have been showing games throughout the tournament. Moscow Deputy Mayor Maksim Liksutov said, "We are the first in the world to show broadcasts of World Cup matches in subway carriages" (RT, 6/27).
Argentina's "beleaguered" manager was on Tuesday accused of asking Lionel Messi if he should send on Sergio Agüero in their "do-or-die" World Cup game with Nigeria. Video emerged of a "brief exchange between a frantic Jorge Sampaoli and Messi" during which he was said to have inquired, "Flea. What do I do? I put it to Kun?" Argentina also held a press conference without its manager on Sunday following "mounting speculation" the team had "lost faith in him" (London TELEGRAPH, 6/27).
Russian police said that they have received "multiple bomb threats" in Rostov-on-Don, "causing bars and restaurants to be evacuated across the city." Police provided no information about who might have been behind the threats, which they said "proved to be false." The Topos Congress-Hotel evacuated "some 200 guests" as bomb-sniffer dogs were "sent in" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 6/27).
Danny Rose is "considering reversing his decision" to stop his family from traveling to the World Cup after admitting Russia is "not as unpleasant as he expected." He is poised to make his first start of the tournament on Thursday and said that if he remains in the side, he "could ask his parents to support him in person." Rose had warned family members against going to the tournament "amid fears of racism" (LONDON TIMES, 6/26).
