MANCHESTER United fans are already fantasising about watching their team play in the Champions League final in Moscow next month.

The Reds are favourites to beat Barcelona in Tuesday's semi-final second leg at Old Trafford. If they win they'll face either Chelsea or Liverpool in the first all-English Champions League final.

But that dream is in danger of dissolving into a nightmare, warn football supporters' organisations with experience of Moscow. They paint a picture of a city with serious crime problems, billed as the most expensive in Europe.

Calls for the final to be switched to Wembley have fallen on deaf ears, with European football's governing body Uefa saying planning for the final began 18 months ago and cannot be switched now Football supporters' groups have accused Uefa of putting supporter safety and affordability too low on their list of priorities when selecting a venue.

A worst-case scenario is that old rivals United and Liverpool could square up to each other in the final, both on the pitch and off it, creating security and safety issues which are likely to be met with extreme force by the Russian authorities.

Just getting to the final will be a major headache for English fans, with few scheduled flights, the need for a visa, high ticket prices and a severe hotel room shortage.

The final is scheduled for a 10.45pm kick off, sparking fears that up to 80,000 English fans, fuelling up on cheap vodka, could end up clashing with each other or the hardline security forces. The two clubs in the final will be allocated 21,000 tickets each, most costing either £67 or £117. But twice that number of supporters could be expected to travel, hoping to pick up black market tickets for the game. It will be held at the Luzhniki Stadium with a limited capacity of 69,700.

In a city already beset by social problems, football hooliganism and serious street crime, it is a daunting prospect, even for seasoned, street-wise football supporters.

Diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia are at the lowest point since the end of the Cold War, prompting some anti-English sentiment in Moscow which it is feared could spill over into serious problems.

"It is not a friendly hospitable place," says Kevin Miles of the Football Supporters' Federation, who had bitter experience of the city's treatment of fans when he travelled there with 4,500 England supporters attending the World Cup qualifying match in October.

"We had problems with England fans over there, with muggings and attacks on fans as they wandered the streets."

It is estimated that a third of fans at that game were the victims of crime, ranging from hooligan assaults to elaborate scams worked by street criminals and bribes demanded by corrupt policemen.

Mark Longden, of the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association, said: "It is a ridiculous venue."

Compounded

He was forced to flee across a six-lane highway to escape Russian hooligans while visiting the city with England fans in October.

"To begin with, the problem with getting a visa, at a cost of £45 each, could be compounded by having two teams, not only from the same country, but also the same region, in the final."

The Russian authorities have already made plans to fast-track visas for Barcelona fans should they beat United and reach the final, but the political fall-out over the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 has hampered similar arrangements being made for United, Liverpool and Chelsea fans.

The Russians are confident that they will be able to process the influx of visa applications within eight days.

Flights to Moscow from Manchester on the day of the final are currently around £550 for the cheapest, twice the normal price, and are expected to soar once the final whistle blows on Tuesday night. Intrepid fans planning to take a land route to the final, as thousands did to Barcelona when United last reached the final in 1999, are warned to beware.

There are serious safety concerns over rail travel through eastern Europe, with robbery, assault and theft commonplace.

Those concerns do not ease once fans get to Moscow, a city of 12 million people which has just 35,000 hotel rooms. Most of those rooms have already been booked by Russia's newly-rich businessmen, anxious to attend such a big sporting event. The few four or five-star hotel rooms still available will set you back at least £350 a night.

Supporters who spend their time on the streets are being warned of the dangers of street crime.

Longden said: "Let's just say Moscow would not be my first choice as a holiday destination. Red Square and the Kremlin are superb, but there is just one pedestrianised bar area, and there is nothing there. I think they will really struggle to cope with large numbers of English football fans."

The Russian football hooligan problem is at the same stage as it was in England in the 1970s.

Moscow troublemakers are said to be itching to test themselves against fans from the country which `invented' the problem

"Having been in Moscow, it is the last place I would want to get into a fight, so hopefully fans who go to the final will take heed," says Longden.

The Foreign Office says it will be drawing up specific arrangements for dealing with large numbers of fans travelling to Moscow once the two finalists are known.

The government's regular advice to tourists visiting Moscow includes warnings on pickpockets and robbery through drink-spiking.

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