Football diplomacy

Tony Halpin writes from Moscow: "The arrival in Moscow of up to 50,000 Chelsea and Manchester United fans for today's Champions League final represents the greatest cultural exchange between Britain and Russia in modern history. ... Russians have been reared on classical images of England as a land of good manners. ... Most of the English fans are likely to disappoint locals eager to debate Shavian philosophy. Instead, Russians keen to practise their schoolbook English may get a crash course in the finer arts of swearing and street slang. ... At a time when political relations with London are at their chilliest since the Cold War. The Kremlin and Whitehall are both hoping 'football diplomacy' will lead to a thaw. So the fans ... hold the future of Anglo-Russian relations in their hands."

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