MOSCOW, May 8: The Russian parliament on Thursday granted the president the power temporarily to ease immigration rules, opening the way for thousands of British soccer fans to enter Russia for the Champions League final without a visa.

The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, changed an existing law to allow new President Dmitry Medvedev to relax or even suspend visa requirements for events drawing large numbers of foreign visitors “in the country’s national interest.”

A Duma minister told the news agency RIA that the law was for the Sochi winter Olympics in 2014, but its quick adoption ahead of the May 21 soccer match between English clubs Manchester United and Chelsea proved the government reacted to situations fast.

“Nearly 40,000 foreign citizens should be coming to the given game, that’s the minimum,” said MP Mikhail Grishakov.—Reuter