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Wales taking 80 fans to Azerbaijan!
- Thread starter Flavor Flav
- Start date
As UB said getting a visa for Azerbaijan was straight forward. Getting a visa for Belaruse was a lot more difficult as needed letter of invitation from a hotel. Kazakhstan was also very simple, £22 and just an application form completed.
Fly out to Almaty tomorrow morning (via Frankfurt with Lufthansa) and back on Monday. Really looking forward to this trip!
Fly out to Almaty tomorrow morning (via Frankfurt with Lufthansa) and back on Monday. Really looking forward to this trip!
pasty
A different kind of pasty
I think you may well have hit the nail on the head there Edna.
turienzo's lovechild
New member
- Oct 25, 2003
- 23,964
to be honest, if i was welsh there'd be no chance in hell that i'd go all the way to azerbaijan to watch 22 shit footballers play football
NO chance
NO chance
glasfryn
cleaning up cat sick
FAW are paying them to go otherwise there would be nobody there to support them.
we could all be loyal to our team and country if someone else were paying
I take it all back - they have changed the VISA application process! This article was from the 21st May. Guess it has been resolved or we would have heard more about it.
JOHN TOSHACK’S Wales team are threatening not to travel to their World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan next month after visa chaos put the match in doubt.
The extraordinary step was revealed by Wales yesterday after it emerged bureaucracy being enforced by the former Soviet republic has thrown the qualifying fixture up in the air.
None of the Welsh players have yet been given the visa they require for entry into the East European country.
And the Football Association of Wales have given the Azerbaijani government until Wednesday to resolve the problem.
If the matter has not been dealt with to Wales’ satisfaction by then, there is a real danger the team would not fulfil a World Cup fixture for the first time in their history.
There are further complications with key centre back and potential captain James Collins, whose passport is about to expire.
Wales have made it clear that if any of their players are denied entry, then none of them will go. The World Cup qualifier is due to be played at the Tofik Bakharamov Stadium, in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on June 6 – little over two weeks away.
Wales are angered about the visa stand-off, which is due to strict new rules brought in by the Azerbaijani authorities.
Mark Evans, head of international affairs at the FAW, said: “We have told our Azerbaijani counterparts, it is simple. If one of our players is stopped from travelling, none of us will go.
“This is a sporting contest and the Welsh and Azerbaijani public expect each country to field their strongest team.
“The ultimate time scale for this is next Wednesday, because we will go to the Azerbaijani Embassy in London with final passports and invitation letters expecting this to be sorted.
“However, the Azerbaijani FA have told us they are really worried about the fixture and have urged their government to help out.
“We have told them that if any of our players is stopped from travelling, we won’t play.
“What we are saying to the Azerbaijani government is, hurry up and get this situation sorted before we have to take drastic steps.”
The problem stems from a tightening in Azerbaijani government policy, introduced last month, which says entry visa applicants have to be invited personally by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Azeri FA have attempted to invite the Welsh players and officials through their government, but as yet, many of the required documents have not been received by the FAW.
In particular, Collins and Reading striker Simon Church have been ordered to get new passports as they had less than six months remaining on their existing ones.
Evans continued:“Some of the players have been away on holiday, which is fine, but they have not yet been able to get their letters of invitation and Simon and James have passports which will expire in the next six months.
“So they have had to get new passports and I have just taken the details of those. This has slowed the process.
“The Azerbaijani FA have been really helpful with us, but it seems that their government are working a very bureaucratic system, which is slowing everyone down.”
The next complication for the FAW is the Azerbaijani Embassy has told them that they will only process 10 visa applications at a time. That means the more the invitation letter saga runs on for, the more the race against time hots up for the 40 FAW visas which have to be processed for players, management and key officials.
Evans said: “Most of the players have their invitation letters but the Azerbaijani Embassy in London say they can only process 10 passports at a time – so there is doubt whether we will be able to get every visa within the timeframe.
“We are just keeping our fingers crossed in the meantime.”
The visa hold-up has also created frustration for fans who have paid hundreds of pounds to travel to the former communist country.
A group of 26 are driving to Baku raising money for the Gol charity tomorrow and are set to embark on their journey without visas to get into Azerbaijan.
Gol charity president Neil Dymock, who contacted the UK Foreign Office for help this week, said: “It looks as though we will have to get our Azerbaijani visas in Georgia.
“It’s ridiculous because we have raised a lot of money for the people of Azerbaijan.”
Mark Evans admitted: “It is a real shame for the fans who are planning to leave tomorrow because they are doing excellent work for Azerbaijan and the Azeri people.
“Everyone is just keeping their fingers crossed at the moment and hoping that the players, officials and fans can get into Azerbaijan for the game.”
A spokesperson for the Azeri Embassy in London said the authorities were sympathetic to the plight of the Welsh people, but added: “Our website clearly instructs applicants that letters must be processed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.”
JOHN TOSHACK’S Wales team are threatening not to travel to their World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan next month after visa chaos put the match in doubt.
The extraordinary step was revealed by Wales yesterday after it emerged bureaucracy being enforced by the former Soviet republic has thrown the qualifying fixture up in the air.
None of the Welsh players have yet been given the visa they require for entry into the East European country.
And the Football Association of Wales have given the Azerbaijani government until Wednesday to resolve the problem.
If the matter has not been dealt with to Wales’ satisfaction by then, there is a real danger the team would not fulfil a World Cup fixture for the first time in their history.
There are further complications with key centre back and potential captain James Collins, whose passport is about to expire.
Wales have made it clear that if any of their players are denied entry, then none of them will go. The World Cup qualifier is due to be played at the Tofik Bakharamov Stadium, in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on June 6 – little over two weeks away.
Wales are angered about the visa stand-off, which is due to strict new rules brought in by the Azerbaijani authorities.
Mark Evans, head of international affairs at the FAW, said: “We have told our Azerbaijani counterparts, it is simple. If one of our players is stopped from travelling, none of us will go.
“This is a sporting contest and the Welsh and Azerbaijani public expect each country to field their strongest team.
“The ultimate time scale for this is next Wednesday, because we will go to the Azerbaijani Embassy in London with final passports and invitation letters expecting this to be sorted.
“However, the Azerbaijani FA have told us they are really worried about the fixture and have urged their government to help out.
“We have told them that if any of our players is stopped from travelling, we won’t play.
“What we are saying to the Azerbaijani government is, hurry up and get this situation sorted before we have to take drastic steps.”
The problem stems from a tightening in Azerbaijani government policy, introduced last month, which says entry visa applicants have to be invited personally by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Azeri FA have attempted to invite the Welsh players and officials through their government, but as yet, many of the required documents have not been received by the FAW.
In particular, Collins and Reading striker Simon Church have been ordered to get new passports as they had less than six months remaining on their existing ones.
Evans continued:“Some of the players have been away on holiday, which is fine, but they have not yet been able to get their letters of invitation and Simon and James have passports which will expire in the next six months.
“So they have had to get new passports and I have just taken the details of those. This has slowed the process.
“The Azerbaijani FA have been really helpful with us, but it seems that their government are working a very bureaucratic system, which is slowing everyone down.”
The next complication for the FAW is the Azerbaijani Embassy has told them that they will only process 10 visa applications at a time. That means the more the invitation letter saga runs on for, the more the race against time hots up for the 40 FAW visas which have to be processed for players, management and key officials.
Evans said: “Most of the players have their invitation letters but the Azerbaijani Embassy in London say they can only process 10 passports at a time – so there is doubt whether we will be able to get every visa within the timeframe.
“We are just keeping our fingers crossed in the meantime.”
The visa hold-up has also created frustration for fans who have paid hundreds of pounds to travel to the former communist country.
A group of 26 are driving to Baku raising money for the Gol charity tomorrow and are set to embark on their journey without visas to get into Azerbaijan.
Gol charity president Neil Dymock, who contacted the UK Foreign Office for help this week, said: “It looks as though we will have to get our Azerbaijani visas in Georgia.
“It’s ridiculous because we have raised a lot of money for the people of Azerbaijan.”
Mark Evans admitted: “It is a real shame for the fans who are planning to leave tomorrow because they are doing excellent work for Azerbaijan and the Azeri people.
“Everyone is just keeping their fingers crossed at the moment and hoping that the players, officials and fans can get into Azerbaijan for the game.”
A spokesperson for the Azeri Embassy in London said the authorities were sympathetic to the plight of the Welsh people, but added: “Our website clearly instructs applicants that letters must be processed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.”
John Boy
Paul McShane
The article suggests they are getting their money refunded. It's not like they are just giving out free tickets
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,641
Can anybody advise approximately what proportion of the travelling England fans in Kazakhstan will be wearing mankinis, grey suits and/or comedy moustache-and-wig combinations?
ATFC Seagull
Aberystwyth Town FC
Ok, I shall say it again. If someone was to pay for your MATCH TICKET (not flights, visa, hotel, time off work), you can honestly say you would definitely be off to watch England in Azerbaijan this weekend?
Edit - obviously thats a hypothetical, I know they are not there, as I'm sure I can trust someone on nsc to point out for me otherwise
rrruss
Wandering Seagull
Actually visas are available at the airport on arrival with no fuss whatsoever as long as you fill in the form, have 2 passport photos and the best part of US$100 to pay for your visa. The Azeri Embassy in London seem to have made it a bit of a money-making exercise!
I will be there on Saturday but not sure what to wear (maybe the Fenerbace-esque Albion away shirt) or who to support (especially as BArn Door Davies hasn't been called up). Berti Vogts has made the Azeri defence pretty tight and they lost 1-0 in Wales and Finland and only 2-0 in Germany. Problem is they can't score goals as Liechtenstein will testify!!
Also, a group of around 20 Welsh fans are driving to Baku! They are raising money for a charity called Gol Cymru. Please feel free to follow the link and sponsor them. They have had problems with visas because land border crossings are now a different kettle of fish following a government change of policy in February!
Other things on this posting which are no longer true? Well, caviar is now 10 times the price it was when England played here! Locals can no longer afford to spread it thick on bread for lunch and it is now a special treat unless they decide to go for low quality pink or red salmon caviar. Not tried any of it so can't comment but it's something my students often complain about.
Regards from sunny Azerbaijan!
Russ
I will be there on Saturday but not sure what to wear (maybe the Fenerbace-esque Albion away shirt) or who to support (especially as BArn Door Davies hasn't been called up). Berti Vogts has made the Azeri defence pretty tight and they lost 1-0 in Wales and Finland and only 2-0 in Germany. Problem is they can't score goals as Liechtenstein will testify!!
Also, a group of around 20 Welsh fans are driving to Baku! They are raising money for a charity called Gol Cymru. Please feel free to follow the link and sponsor them. They have had problems with visas because land border crossings are now a different kettle of fish following a government change of policy in February!
Other things on this posting which are no longer true? Well, caviar is now 10 times the price it was when England played here! Locals can no longer afford to spread it thick on bread for lunch and it is now a special treat unless they decide to go for low quality pink or red salmon caviar. Not tried any of it so can't comment but it's something my students often complain about.
Regards from sunny Azerbaijan!
Russ