© Lucy Nicholson / ReutersNizhny Novgorod Stadium, Russia, June 24, 2018
Exposed as baseless during this World Cup has been the anti-Russia propaganda peddled by Western ideologues, particularly in the UK, when it comes to the security and safety of travelling fans.
In the lead-up to the tournament the contents of a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report was made public by the
BBC. Consider the following paragraph: "
Fans from BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) backgrounds and those who identify as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) face additional risks of attack and persecution [in Russia]."
This exercise in scaremongering was undertaken by the usual crew of Russophobic cranks that colonises the UK political and media establishment, undertaken as part of a campaign to undermine the tournament and see it end in failure. In deterring fans from England in travelling to Russia to follow their team it worked, reflected in
significantly lower number of tickets being sold in England than were sold for past World Cups in which the country's national team were involved.
Alas, with the undoubted success of the tournament thus far, grudgingly acknowledged even by strident critics of Russia, England fans that made the mistake of believing this Russophobic guff have missed out and will be kicking themselves - even more so considering the hospitality the England fans who braved the journey have
reported receiving in Russia, "
praising a particularly warm reception from their hosts."
Comment: It's most likely true that that is happening in some places, and for some people, but not all. In addition, a lot of the chaos in Caracas and a few other cities as regards services is a direct result of walk outs by staff organized by anti-government groups. Yet they blame Maduro and the government.