Consular statistics for the World Cup in Brazil 2014
Foreign Office releases details of consular assistance provided to England fans during the World Cup in Brazil
It is estimated that twenty thousand England fans visited Brazil over the course of the tournament. Official ticket sales through the UK were the fourth highest, behind Brazil, the United States and Argentina. When not following the England team to Manaus, Sao Paulo and Brasilia, many fans enjoyed themselves in Rio de Janeiro, where the England team were also based between matches.
Alex Ellis, Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Brazil said:
The vast majority of England fans were GREAT ambassadors for the country and the number requiring assistance was low. The Be on the Ball campaign helped fans prepare and we will look to do something similar for the Olympics.
The majority of the 22 arrests were for ticket touting. 75 Emergency Travel Documents were issued to fans whose passports were lost or stolen. 11 hospitalisations were mostly for minor injuries.
Consular teams were available 24-7 throughout the tournament to assist those who did need our help. This included a mobile team sent to each city where England played, working alongside the Football Supporters Federation and six UK police officers. A dedicated World Cup Consular Helpline also operated 24-7.
World Cup Travel Advice was updated regularly throughout the tournament and received nearly 40,000 individual views since the start, and nearly 80,000 times since the launch in December.
Notes
The Be on The Ball campaign was launched by Minister Simmonds in December on the day of the World Cup draw. Over the six months leading up to the opening game, we used a variety of means to provide fans planning to travel with advice on how to prepare for their trip and to stay safe in Brazil. These included: social media reach to 9m, information cards issued to 7000, a Youtube video watched by over 2000 and face-to-face interaction at airports, fan forum and England friendlies. We also had help publicising our messages from football personalities including Alan Hansen, Paulinho and Chris Kamara.
If you have any enquiries for FCO consular staff before you go or while abroad you can now ask questions via the FCO’s new Twitter service @FCOtravel. This service adds to the ways that British people travelling or living overseas can already get in touch with the FCO: by emailing the travel advice team or contacting local consular staff.
You can also keep up-to-date with the latest FCO travel advice by signing up to the FCO’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Further information
For further information please contact the Know Before You Go team on 020 7781 2342 or FCOTeam@consolidatedpr.com
The FCO’s Know Before You Go campaign encourages British nationals to prepare for their foreign travel so they can avoid preventable problems. Our foreign holiday checklist is useful for pre-travel preparations.
The Know Before You Go campaign targets a number of audiences, from gap year students to package holidaymakers; sports fans to older travellers and people visiting friends and family abroad. The campaign works with around 600 travel industry partners to communicate its messages. For more information visit our Know Before You Go page