Moscow – Ruasia has a problem with 2018 Soccer World Cup guests who just won’t leave.

Paul Nyathi|A senior policeman told Russian media on Friday that more than 5 000 foreigners who arrived on a visa-free system for fans last year have yet to leave the country, more than six months after France beat Croatia in the final.

Andrei Kayushin, who heads the migration department of the Interior Ministry, says just over 12 000 were left when their “Fan ID” permit cards expired at the end of 2018, but security services swiftly reduced that number to 5 500.

Kayushin adds “we are undertaking operations to deport them and I hope that they will all be deported by March 30.”