About 14,000 foreign football fans heading to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup have crossed the Belarusian border without a visa as part of the temporary visa-free regime between Russia and Belarus, a spokesman for the Belarusian State Border Committee, Anton Bychkovsky, has said.
A temporary mutual visa recognition agreement was signed by Minsk and Moscow in May, allowing foreign citizens with Fan IDs to enter Belarus without a visa.
A Fan ID grants its holders a visa-free entry to Russia during the World Cup, with fans being able to enter the country ten days before the first match and stay until ten days after the last game.
"Since the agreement launch, a total of 13,793 foreign fans have traveled through Belarus to Russia for the World Cup, with 8,843 people coming to Belarus, and 4,950 people leaving it," Bychkovsky said.
The World Cup is being held in 11 cities across Russia from June 14 until July 15, and the Belarusian Interior Ministry expects more than 150,000 supporters from the European Union (EU) to pass through the country on their way to the World Cup destinations and back, as a lot of teams from the EU member states are participating in the tournament.
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