اشترِك في نشرتنا الإخبارية
Lebanese World Cup fans recall stadium dreams in Russia
BEIRUT: Millions of fans from around the globe gather every four years in the country that hosts the World Cup. Watching a football game at the stadium is a totally different experience, as a number of Lebanese fans watching the most prominent sports event worldwide told Annahar.
Here are some of the fans’ experiences, what they went through to attend the World Cup, and some fun moments to share.
FAWAZ: WORLD CUP, OPPORTUNITY TO RE-VISIT RUSSIA
Rami Fawaz has been watching football ever since he was seven years old in 1997. Back then, he used to watch Nejmeh and Ansar, two local Lebanese football teams, in his village with his friends. After that, he watched the first World Cup in 1998. Soon after, Fawaz started watching the English Premier League.
Fawaz is a die-hard Manchester United fan, and he is also an official member of the club. His favorite World Cup team since 1998 is France, but he sometimes cheers and supports other teams as well, like Algeria. “I am half Algerian, so I should support my team too,” he said.
He is also supporting Russia this year.
Fawaz didn’t face any obstacles to attend the World Cup in Russia, and what made it easier for him is that he was living in Russia for a long time previously before coming back to Lebanon.
The process of watching the World Cup was rather easy, he mentions. As soon as FIFA opened the registration online, he registered and bought the tickets. He then registered on FIFA page to receive a FIFA ID, which was later sent from Russian post to LibanPost.
Any holder of the FIFA ID doesn’t need to get any visa to Russia, and will only need a ticket.
Fawaz mentions that the trains from one region to another were for free as well.
Financially, he found that going to Russia is a lot cheaper than other countries. In his opinion, if the World Cup was going to be in Europe, it would have cost much more money. Russia is a lot easier, and what made it easier for him was staying at his friends’ place most of the time.
Being a fan of France, Fawaz “only watched the beautiful games and all France’s games,” he mentioned.
Some fun stuff during his trip to Russia included seeing fans from different countries cheering and drinking on the road. “The most fun part was the chants of the Egyptian team fans who were cheering against Sergio Ramos, since he injured the renowned Egyptian player Mohammad Salah in the Champions League final.”
For Fawaz, the World Cup was mainly an opportunity to re-visit Russia “which,” he said, “I missed a lot.”
CHEHAYEB: WE WATCHED REAL FOOTBALL
Daniel Chehayeb, also a football fan in his 20s, had a dream of watching the game from the court. “Unfortunately, football is not very competitive in Lebanon, and that’s why we always like to watch European football,” he said.
“In Moscow, we felt that we are watching real football in a stadium that held 44,000 fans. It’s an indescribable feeling,” he added.
Chehayeb has been watching football since he was 11 or 12 years old, and his favorite football team is Brazil.
Same as Fawaz, he did not face any difficulties in the process or in the financial aspect of his trip to Russia. He was informed about the registration process through his friend’s mother who works at a travel agency. She informed him about the fan ID, which enables him to enter Russia without a visa, and reserved his tickets online. The original tickets, however, were distributed 24 hours before the game.
Chehayeb spent four days only, and was really “excited to watch the game and see the audience’s reaction when a team scores a goal. It was like a dream,” he said.
The best part of his trip was communicating with people from different cultures.
CHARBEL: THEY CHEER DIFFERENTLY
Ralph Charbel, who was really excited to watch the World Cup in Russia, has been watching football since 2002. His favorite football team is AC Milan.
Charbel did not face any difficulties, and reserved early in October, along with 14 other people.
“Everything was very clear and organized, so the process went smoothly,” he said.
Along the lines of Fawaz and Chehayeb, he said that “Russia was quite good financially too.”
The games he watched were France vs. Denmark, Serbia vs. Brazil, and Spain vs. Russia.
He also pointed out the sportsmanship that he witnessed there, “For me, it was a totally new cultural way of cheering,” he said, adding: “while many Lebanese fight over their favorite football teams, fans in Russia were more like friends in the way they were cheering and partying.”
GHARBIEH: THAT WAS THE MELTING POINT
Mohammad Gharbieh, a football fan since 1994, has quite the same opinion as Charbel when it comes to cheering.
“That was the big melting point for me; there isn’t anyone who cheers for a team other than his/her country,” he said, adding that “cheering really differs between Lebanon and Russia.
Gharbieh, whose favourite football team is Manchester United, and Russia for the World Cup, faced no difficulties at all. “It was all very organized on the FIFA website,” he said.
The games he watched included Russia vs. Egypt, Egypt vs. Saudi Arabia, Tunisia vs. Belgium, and Tunisia vs. panama.
The fun part for him was meeting people from all around the world with one point in common: Their love for football.
After his World Cup experience, the young man aims to try and attend it ever four years. “For 1000$, anyone can spend 4 days in Russia,” he said.
He got the court tickets for 350$ and paid 700$, which is considered very cheap, for a plane ticket, since he reserved a long time prior to his trip. He is currently spending around 50 LBP per day, and accessing trains for free. Gharbieh even slept in the train from Volgograd to other places, since it takes around 24 hours, and spent the rest of the trip at his friend’s place or at the hotel.
