Fan ID is not a problem: Kazan expects full house at the Russian Football Super Cup

“There was a request from the RFU”

Kazan stadium was chosen as the venue for the match for the Russian Super Cup this mid-June. The capital of Tatarstan won this right in a fight with Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow. At a press conference held recently, Minister of Sports of the Republic Vladimir Leonov said that the initiative came from the Russian Football Union (RFU), which approached the city with a proposal to organize the title match.

“There was a request from the RFU about the possibility of holding the match in Kazan. We are always open to such proposals, especially if they approach us themselves. Then the decision was made within the RFU itself, where they considered that it was more profitable to come to us. It is better to clarify the procedure for choosing a location for the Super Cup with the organizer. We are ready to hold the finals at least every year,” Leonov said.

It was not possible to quickly clarify with the organizers. Of the three speakers announced for the press conference, only one was present — Minister of Sports of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov. The other two, RFU officials Irina Posirenina and Kirill Tereshin, did not have time to get to the capital of the republic due to the transport collapse. As a result, the head of the republican department and the general director of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects Maxim Denisov had to “take the rap” for everyone.

Unlike the visit of important guests, the match for the Russian Super Cup should take place without delays. According to Leonov, the teams will arrive in the city a day earlier, all the main measures for organizing the event are being carried out on time. When asked about possible postponements of the meeting, the head of the department was brief — the match will take place on the previously announced date.

Cultural programme of the Super Cup

Together with the RFU, a colourful pre-match programme for the Super Cup was prepared in Kazan. Cultural events will begin on 9 July, when the trophy itself arrives in the city. On 10 July, the ambassadors will visit one of the city's orphanages with the cup, after which they will hold a photo shoot near the new Kamala Theatre, and in the evening, a discussion on the popularization of football will be held at Mega shopping centre.

On 11 July, an open-air football festival will be held at Yelmay Park, which can be accessed from 13:00 without tickets. Here, residents and guests of the city will be able to take part in the Trophy Tour Festival with various football entertainment and a concert programme.

• From 10 to 12 July, the RFU will hold a Trophy Tour. As part of it, football legends and football bloggers will visit various city locations and events. Those who wish will be able to take pictures with both the main trophy and the Super Cup ambassadors.
• On 10 July at 18:00, an autograph and photo shoot will be held in the Mega shopping centre.
• On 11 July, starting at 13:00 the Trophy Tour Festival will open at Yelmay Park, featuring football entertainment and a concert program.
• On 12 July, the trophy will be exhibited at the city festival Yummy Kazan.

The match between Krasnodar and CSKA for the Super Cup will begin at 18:00 Moscow time. But entertainment events on the arena grounds will begin three hours before the referee's starting whistle. Before the match itself, the bands SEREBRO and DABRO will perform at Ak Bars Arena, and the owner of the highest voice in the world, opera singer Svetlana Feodulova, will sing the Russian anthem.

Fan ID and 40,000 spectators

The ticket programme was launched two weeks ago. During this time, the organizers have sold about 30,000 tickets, but they expect a full house at the stadium on the day of the match. Both teams received a quota of two thousand seats for organized fans, although Krasnodar and CSKA will have significantly more personal fans at the arena. Leonov said that the goal is to gather 40,000 spectators.

This time, entry to the Russian Super Cup will be exclusively by fan cards. Without a Fan ID, you won’t even be able to buy a ticket to the stadium. Previously, such restrictions only applied to Russian Premier League (RPL) games and the final of the Russian Cup. This May, the fan card was extended to the Super Cup.

“Most football fans have had a fan card for a long time. There are no problems, we believe that everything is done conveniently. There were concerns that interest would decrease, but we do not see this. Previously, the card was a novelty, now it is a rule of life. Objectively, we have no failures or problems, fans from Tatarstan and other regions buy tickets. We have a lot of tourists in our city, and football is one of the “anchors” for attracting them,” Leonov said.

As for road closures, the organizers hope not to introduce them unless absolutely necessary. If necessary, they can temporarily close the road along Chistopolskaya Street, adjacent to the stadium. At the same time, Maxim Denisov admitted that in 2023 they did not have to resort to such restrictions, so this time they also expect to do without them.

“As of today, no other restrictions are planned near the stadium during the Super Cup. If any other necessary measures appear that need to be introduced for safety, we will inform from all possible sources,” Denisov said.

For the convenience of fans, they plan to increase the number of buses near the arena, reduce their intervals and organize additional routes to the railway station and metro stations.

The grass will not be an obstacle to attacking football

This is not the first such experience for Kazan. In 2023, the Ak Bars Arena hosted the Russian Super Cup match between Saint Petersburg Zenit and Moscow CSKA. That time, the regular time of the game ended in a draw, the fans did not wait for any goals from the teams — 0:0. The victory was ultimately won by the St. Petersburg footballers — in a series of post-match penalties.

This year, CSKA will play in Kazan again, which, like in 2023, is participating in the fight for the trophy as the winner of the Russian Cup. Krasnodar will fight in such a match for the first time. Krasnodar won their first trophy in history in May, so the “bulls” did not have to participate in the Super Cup.

Both teams play interesting attacking football. In this regard, the main concern of the fans concerns the quality of the grass at the Kazan stadium. Recently, a large-scale concert by Leonid Agutin took place at Ak Bars Arena, so there was a risk of damage to the grass surface of the field. However, head of the Ministry of Sports of Tatarstan Leonov reassured — the grass was not damaged, the inspection did not reveal any problems, everything is proceeding as planned.