Russia will stage a great World Cup – let’s stop sniping and enjoy it

With the World Cup in Russia less than a week away, the tournament is still generating more cynicism than excitement, in Britain at least. A slew of gloomy magazine and newspaper articles focus on spying, Putin and hooliganism, while the BBC has screened several documentaries in the lead-up to the competition, all of which emphasised the darker themes of Russian life.

Rather than a festival of football, the media seem to expect corruption, violence and political propaganda. Prospect Magazine went so far as to commission an essay asking whether the impending “disaster” might spell “the beginning of the end” for the World Cup. Yet, while Russia has its problems, it’s a captivating place to visit, its people are hospitable and it has a rich, varied football culture.

England fans and other tourists travelling to the World Cup are likely to have a brilliant time.

Vladimir Putin and his government are determined to showcase their country through the tournament. It’s highly unlikely that hooliganism will be allowed to mar the occasion. The organisers have made some special arrangements to help fans who make the trip to Russia and the matches will be played in an array of spectacular brand new and refurbished stadia.

Usually, securing a Russian visa is an inconvenient, expensive process, for British citizens. It involves a bale of paperwork and, for first-time visitors, a trip to an embassy or consulate, where the authorities collect ‘biometric data’. World cup ticket holders, in contrast, have been granted visa-free travel for the duration of the finals, which represents a saving of well over £100, even before they leave Blighty.

Critics have frequently cited the distance between host cities in Russia as a potential problem. The issue is exaggerated, because the venues are clustered in order to cut travel times, but the Russians are also offering another significant freebie for ticket holding fans, to help with the formidable logistics. Football supporters are entitled to free travel between matches, for the duration of the tournament.

In Russia, that usually means taking an overnight train, which is a rewarding adventure in itself. High speed trains are becoming common, but most journeys take place at a more sedate pace, in carriages where passengers often share food and drink and the matronly ‘provodnitsa’, or carriage attendant, brings tea from her samovar. Rolling toward their destination in the early morning mist, through the steppe or birch forest, will be a memorable experience for many fans.

England supporters are lucky enough to be destined for two of the great cities on the River Volga to watch their team’s matches. Volgograd will be particularly fascinating for military history enthusiasts who know that, under its previous name, Stalingrad, it staged the bloodiest battle of the second world war. The enormous Motherland Calls monument, which towers over the city, commemorates the extraordinary sacrifice of its citizens and the Red Army.

Nizhny Novgorod is a charming, laid-back town, whose imposing Kremlin overlooks the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers. If England fans wander just a little way from the central streets, they’ll find themselves among traditional timber houses that give the place the atmosphere of a Russian village. The city is also known for its vibrant ‘eda i kultury’ (food and culture) scene that includes Pyatkin, a restaurant serving local delicacies in the ambience of a 19th century drawing room.

Nizhny is sometimes known as Russia’s ‘third capital’ but most World Cup visitors will arrive in one of its other two ‘capitals’; Moscow or St Petersburg. The imperial splendour of St Petersburg is undoubtedly impressive and enthusiasts for Russian literature can seek out Sennaya Ploshchad, which, in Dostoevsky’s time, was the city’s teeming underbelly, depicted in Crime and Punishment. A plaque and a carving of Raskolnikov mark the building that the author envisaged as his protagonist’s lodgings.

I prefer Moscow – a mega-city that’s still intimate enough for complete strangers to stop and pass the time of day. It’s also not necessarily as expensive as the horror stories suggest. If you want to dine like an oligarch, prices can be high, but there are plenty of very reasonable bars, restaurants and kiosks. Kruzhka and Yolki Polki are two very acceptable chains that serve cheap food and drink, for instance.

Even better, befriend a Russian and get invited to a Russian home, where the country’s hospitality is best experienced.

I’ve travelled to Russia both as an ‘ordinary tourist’ and as a football fan, when Northern Ireland played Russia at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Over the course of a two week trip, which included attending a Russian domestic league match between Rubin Kazan and Terek Grozny, we didn’t witness a hint of trouble or menace. This season, thousands of British football fans travelled to Russia for big European club games, with a similar lack of incidents. Though England supporters should be aware that carrying or consuming alcohol is forbidden in the vicinity of stadiums, for big games.

Any fan who travels to Russia with an enquiring mind and a respectful attitude to his or her hosts will have an unforgettable trip. As a Northern Ireland supporter, I’m acutely jealous of England fans who plan to travel. We would be there too, if it weren’t for a hapless Romanian referee (and, admittedly, a lack of goals in our two play-off games against Switzerland).

It’s always worth remembering that, for most Russian people, Russia 2018 isn’t principally about Putin or geopolitics. It’s a chance for the world’s largest country and its people – an established football nation and a hotbed of history and culture – to finally host sport’s greatest spectacle. For one month, let’s forget about sniping at Russia and enjoy the show.