Dubai, UAE: As the countdown clock in Kremlin is ticking away in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup 2018, football fans across the world are busy picking up their Fan IDs with the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the front line of football fever following China and India.
VFS Global, the world’s leading outsourcing and technology services specialist which is an official distributor of the FAN IDs through its centres across 35 countries worldwide said the UAE stands third after China and India in the uptake of the identification document which allows football fans with a valid world cup tournament ticket visa-free entry to Russia.
“We expect more registrations for the FAN IDs as the event date close in, particularly from the Arab countries with four qualifying teams – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Morocco –taking part at the World Cup,” said Mr. Vinay Malhotra COO – Middle East, VFS Global.
FAN IDs are distributed by VFS Global across 165 centers worldwide and in some countries like China - which currently leads the uptake of the IDs- there are multiple centers which distributes the identification document. Other countries where more than one VFS Global centre caters to football fans include Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Poland, India, etc…
“We have also been seeing a surge in the Asian pick up of FAN IDs, while other potential countries in the Middle East and Europe have also shown enthusiasm with less than 15 days to go for the World Cup,” said Vinay Malhotra.
The quadrennial international football tournament will kick off on June 14 in Russia and the Communication Ministry which is in charge of the issue of the unique spectator’s card expects to issue some 2 million FAN IDs throughout the period of the World Cup till the end of the game on July 15 2018.
FAN ID was used for the first time in the history of the FIFA tournaments during the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Everyone who has purchased a match ticket must get a FAN ID which can be obtained by registering at http://www.fan-id.ru.
Post registration and processing by the Russian authorities, fans can collect the IDs from VFS Global centres. FAN ID will only be handed over to the person who has applied for it and the fan mandatorily needs to present original passport at VFS Global centre at the time of collection.
FAN IDs entitle spectators to enter Russia ten days earlier to World Cup and stay in the country for an equal number of days post the game. It is issued free of charge and offers a host of benefits including convenient access to the stadiums, free travel on special trains connecting the host cities and on public transportation of the host cities on match days.
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About VFS Global
VFS Global is the world's largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. With 2612 Application Centres, operations in 139 countries across five continents and over 170 million applications processed as on 30 April 2018, VFS Global is the trusted partner of 59 client governments. VFS Global’s worldwide operations are certified ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management System, ISO 27001:2013 for Information Security Management System and ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management System. For more information, please visit www.vfsglobal.com
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