Manchester United are due to take on Chelsea in the Luzhniki stadium on May 21 in a match that has attracted as much attention for the visa and hooligan related issues surrounding the event as for the evening of drama and emotion that is widely expected to unfold on the pitch.

Eighty-three Manchester United fans and 69 Chelsea supporters have been orde

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red to hand over their passports. All of them have at some point been convicted on charges relating to hooliganism.

Each side will receive 21,000 tickets for the game as Moscow prepares for an invasion of English soccer fans notorious for their heavy drinking.

British police have also passed on information to their Russian colleagues concerning known hooligans with a request not to allow them to enter the country if they somehow manage to make their way to the former Soviet state's borders. Known ticket touts have also been included in the banning order.

However, in an interview with the Evening Standard newspaper, Assistant Chief Constable Steve Thomas said he was not expecting any violence between the two groups of English fans.

"The risk will come from a hooligan element in Russia," Thomas claimed. "The Russians model themselves on English supporters in the seventies and eighties. They are mad and their mentality is that violence is part of football."

"The Russian authorities are doing a massive amount to deal with that, and the message to English fans is don't let the Russian hooligans drag you into trouble," he went on.

Thomas, the Association of Chief Police Officers' head man on football matters, will be one of a group of 18 British police - including eight from Scotland Yard - who are set to accompany English fans to the game.

Russia's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that British soccer fans traveling to Moscow for the Champions League final would not need a visa. UEFA has also announced that fans will need to present a valid match ticket, a valid passport, and a completed immigration form upon arrival in Russia.

Anyone overstaying the 72-hour entry period will then have to pay the fee for a regular visa when leaving the country, UEFA said.

British authorities also announced on Tuesday that they would do everything in their power to assist Russian fans intending to travel to Manchester to support Zenit St. Petersburg in their UEFA Cup final against Glasgow Rangers on May 14.

However, Britain has yet to follow Russia's example in scrapping visa requirements, although it has said that its embassy in Moscow and its consulate in St. Petersburg will be working 24 hours a day to process an expected 10,000 visa applications from Zenit supporters.

Zenit, owned and financed by Russian energy giant Gazprom, went through to the first major European final in its history with a 5-1 aggregate victory over German giants Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup semi-final, including a stunning 4-0 home win on May 1.

LONDON, May 6 (RIA Novosti)