Chelsea fans face £5,000 bill and red tape on way to Moscow

An investigation by the Evening Standard suggests Chelsea fans could pay a total of £5,000 to watch their team play Manchester United in the Luzhniki Stadium on 21 May.

As celebrations of the 4-3 semi-final win over Liverpool continued into the early hours - including those of the players, many of whom partied at Chinawhite, and manager Avram Grant, who was joined by his family - supporters were facing soaring costs.

Agencies are selling black market tickets for as much as £3,000 a seat while one specialist travel company says hotel rooms - which average £250 a night in the most expensive capital in the world - are rising £30 a day.

Fans must also hope they can get tourist visas in time - adding up to a huge headache for the first all-English final in the competition's history.

Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, a Manchester United fan who will attend the final as the Government's representative, admitted the average fan may be priced out. He said: "It is very hard for the fans. This is a big concern to me. It is worrying to hear that tickets are already being sold for £3,000. If hotels are also putting up their prices that is also not right. Fans should not be charged more than ordinary tourists."

TRAVEL

The only British Airways flights to Moscow left start at around £900.

Travel firm Go Russia has laid on £700 direct charter flights on the morning of the game but they go from Liverpool. A marginally cheaper but much slower journey for many fans will be a flight on a budget airline to one of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia followed by a £50 to £100 overnight rail journey. The train trips are selling out fast. A flight on 20 May to Tallinn is already £400 on EasyJet.

HOTELS

Moscow has a notoriously short supply of tourist accommodation which is up to Western standards. Go Russia, based in west London, is using three cruise ships as floating hotels. A two-night stay on the Sergey Kuchkin is £1,100 including flights. Match tickets and visas cost extra. The firm is offering a budget hotel for £180 a night but warned prices will rise closer to kick off.

Go Russia's manager Zivile Meksriunaite said: "We have never known anything like this before. Every day hotels are putting up the price of rooms by £20 to £30. Last week one hotel we are using was £50 cheaper than it is now."

VISAS

Fans will have to put their faith in a new fast-tracking system. All 42,000 fans' visas will be processed through the Russian National Tourist Office, based near Green Park. Tourist board director Mikhail Ignatieff said: "Fans need to send their passport, a copy of their match ticket, a photograph, a completed application form and £65. They will get their visa in two or three days."