What sort of welcome will World Cup visitors get in Russia?

Homosexuality is not illegal in Russia, it's only illegal to specifically target children with homosexual material.

It's not that simple. There are no laws protecting gays and transgendered Russians from discrimination in employment for example. And the anti-propaganda laws are vague enough that gays in Russia have been arrested, hassled, beaten, and even killed for public displays of support for gays in general or public displays of affection between same sex couples. The figure skater Adam Rippon was not exaggerating when he claimed that he could be arrested for being gay in Russia.

And I am concerned about how visitors will be treated. The World Cup is a very popular sport around the world, and I am hoping there are no acts of racism and violence by hooligans.

There are no laws protecting gays and transgendered Russians from discrimination in employment for example.

Should there be? Why privilege gender based sexual preferences over sexual preferences based on other characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity, physical appearance and so on. For example, there are many men who are only attracted to Asian women but there is no legal protection for these men (even in the most liberal western democracies) if a prospective employer discovers this and discriminates against them on the basis that it's a bit 'creepy'. Their sexual attraction is obviously just as real and involuntary as a man attracted to another man. Same applies to woman who are only attracted to tall men, and so on. The list is endless. The idea of elevating only one particular sexual preference to a legally protected class seems very arbitrary, but shielding every sexual preference from the disapproval and discrimination is likely to lead to a dystopian society where nobody is free to express their views.

The biggest demand, outside the host nation, has come from the United States, whose team failed to qualify, with 86,710 sold.

The US has a huge affluent-enough population that even just a portion of soccer fans (they didn't even qualify) could top the list

That's why even when soccer is not even close to their top sports, there's more than enough mass to move the economic needle (imagine if they host the World Cup)

That's why even when soccer is not even close to their top sports, there's more than enough mass to move the economic needle (imagine if they host the World Cup)

Exactly the reason why the US shouldn't be involved in hosting a Football World Cup :)

And I am concerned about how visitors will be treated. The World Cup is a very popular sport around the world, and I am hoping there are no acts of racism and violence by hooligans.

It's pretty legitimate to be concerned about racism and violence by Russian hooligans in particular and I've doubts that despite the message that the authorities have 'everything in control' things will go out of hand.

Let's hope for a great tournament based on a good fighting spirit on the fields.

will NOT go out of hand **

That's why even when soccer is not even close to their top sports, there's more than enough mass to move the economic needle (imagine if they host the World Cup)

Exactly the reason why the US shouldn't be involved in hosting a Football World Cup :)

That kind of limiting thinking would not be conducive to helping a sport grow

But fortunately, sports feds including hockey and basketball don't think of limiting the World Cups only to a handful of countries

Even the Rugby World Cup is happening in Japan to help rugby grow where rugby is not that popular

I reckon visiting fans will be greeted with glasgow kisses - i'm sure the ultras will be out in force

That kind of limiting thinking would not be conducive to helping a sport grow

Nothing to do with limited thinking but with common sense. A global tournament should be organised in a country where football lives, not in countries where guests have to explain the rules to the hosts. Since 1994, the first mistake, football has been growing in the US of A with the influx of latinos as a boost, but the ignorance about the sport under the majority of Americans remains :)

Nothing to do with limited thinking but with common sense. A global tournament should be organised in a country where football lives, not in countries where guests have to explain the rules to the hosts.

Then the sport will not grow significantly where it needs the help to grow (as opposed to places where it doesn't need the help) - that's the limiting thinking

I just gave rugby as an example - the Rugby World Cup will be in Japan, but most Japanese don't know rugby. But if ya wanna grow rugby in Japan, having the World Cup helps

Basketball and hockey World Cups also happen in countries where people don't live that sport - but that grows the sport in those countries that need the help. That's better than just giving up and letting the sport languish and remain niche. That's a defeatist attitude

Since 1994, the first mistake, football has been growing in the US of A with the influx of latinos as a boost, but the ignorance about the sport under the majority of Americans remains :)

The US is a huge population - even if just 1 in 5 Americans know the sport, that's still 60 million people. That's more than the whole populations of many countries, including most countries of Europe