"The Russian leadership made the decision to permit English fans coming to Moscow for the Champions League final visa-free entry into the Russian Federation from May 17 to 25, 2008," a spokesman, Andrei Krivtsov, said.
Krivtsov said fans would need to have a valid passport, completed migration card and match ticket to enter and leave Russia.
The all-English Champions League final will take place in Moscow May 21. Each club is allowed 21,000 tickets for its supporters, which means that over 40,000 English soccer fans are due to hit the Russian capital for the match.
Sergei Mironov, a speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house, said that the lower house, the State Duma, will consider the issue on May 8 and will try to pass the relative legislation in three readings.
Alexei Sorokin, who is coordinating the Champions League in Russia, said Monday that the visa-free regime would only cover a 72-hour visit to the country, if fans planned to stay longer then they would either require a visa as usual or have to pay for an exit visa.
