A “safe space” meant to celebrate diversity in football on the sidelines of the World Cup has been prevented from opening for several days, after what the organisers suspect is official pressure.

Diversity House in St Petersburg, organised by a group of NGOs, was meant to celebrate the achievements of minorities in football and was due to open on Thursday, prior to the opening game of the World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

However, the night before the opening, the company renting out the venue on the edge of the fan zone suddenly pulled out and told the activists they would not be welcome.

“They asked us to go pretty rudely, turned off all the electricity, and gave no explanation,” said Elena Belokurova, a St Petersburg activist who is part of a group called Cup for People, aiming to help the World Cup bring benefits for all layers of Russian society.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Morocco supporter in front of the State Hermitage museum in St Petersburg. Photograph: Etienne Laurent/EPA

The executive director of the Fare network, Piara Powar, said the diversity houses in Moscow and St Petersburg were meant as a place to celebrate diversity in football, after concerns about the human rights situation in Russia and the potential for racist chants or incidents at World Cup matches. “It is not a provocation and the content breaks no laws”, said Powar, whose network promotes diversity in football.

The venues, intended as “safe spaces” where all would be welcome to watch the football, featured billboards promoting the achievements of women, ethnic minorities and refugees in football. There were also plans to host debates and discussions on a range of football and rights issues.

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In Moscow, the opening on Thursday was attended by representatives of the Russian government and Fifa, but the house was not allowed to open in St Petersburg, where local authorities have traditionally taken a harder line on LGBT organisations and other human rights issues. Activists are going public with the situation only now, having tried to solve it privately for several days, but even pressure from Fifa officials could not help them get the venue open. The activists planned to open in a new venue on Saturday evening.

Powar said the group had little doubt that the decision to close Diversity House was “a political attack of the kind that shows how debates about human rights are curtailed by powerful conservative political forces in Russia”. Powar said there was no direct proof the decision to close the venue had come from authorities, but pointed to a long history of “inconvenient” organisations being closed or suffocated on legalistic pretexts in Russia, and particularly in St Petersburg. It was also telling that even Fifa’s intervention failed to have an effect.

“The way in which the Diversity House … has been closed down is familiar to organisations in St Petersburg, they recognise it as the method through which the city authorities shut down activities which do not conform to their political outlook,” Powar added.

He said the police and local authorities in Moscow and St Petersburg had been informed about the locations and activities of the diversity houses. “Security assurances were sought and given at state and local police level,” he said.

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So far, there have been no major incidents at the World Cup, with fans mingling and enjoying warm weather and the football in a number of Russian cities. On Saturday, England fans continued to arrive by road, rail and air in Volgograd, before the team’s opening game against Tunisia on Monday. But the supporters were in fewer numbers than at previous major tournaments as it emerged only about 2,000 tickets have been sold for each of their three group games.

The smaller number of travelling fans compared to previous tournaments, was noticeable at the city’s fan zone on the banks of the river Volga, with its spectacular backdrop where only a handful of England shirts could be seen. Martin Barnes, a builder of luxury homes on the Cornwall coast, believes what he termed “scaremongering” stories have put some people off from visiting Russia.

England fans are coming here with a bad reputation and I want … Russian people to feel good about us Martin Barnes

Poor ticket sales were being attributed to worsening relations between Russia and the west and the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Sailsbury. But the violence between Russian and English fans in Marseille which marred Euro 2016 was also a factor in some minds.

“I think it’s a shame”, said Barnes, “because we’ve only had good experiences. We had an epic 30-hour journey to get here, which involved flights to Istanbul and Krasnodar. When we landed at Volgograd airport at 8am we were exhausted and struggling to find our way. Two lovely Russian guys who’d just finished their night shift at the airport helped us get on the right buses and we bought them breakfast when we arrived. England fans are coming here with a bad reputation and I want to do what little I can to make Russian people feel good about us.

“I’ve not seen anything to suggest there’ll be any trouble,” he added, “but I guess if England get knocked out that is when you’d be most likely to see those few troublemakers.”