“England fan shames British media,” was one of many headlines of a similar nature to appear in Kremlin-friendly news outlets in Russia over the past couple of weeks. The story referenced a tweet from England fan Matt Maybury, who on returning from a trip to the World Cup wanted to complain about the “clear propaganda against the Russian people” in the British media. Russia was an “absolutely class country”, he wrote, at odds with what the media had led him to believe.

The tweet went viral, and was covered by multiple Russian television stations and news websites as proof of the British media’s lies.

It is an accusation that has been heard frequently out here in Russia, both from travelling England fans and from Russian media and officials. Last week, the foreign ministry’s Maria Zakharova complained about a “Russophobic campaign” by British news outlets. As Eric Dier scored the winning penalty against Colombia, the commentator on Russian state television shouted: “Down with propaganda! Down with the British press who told their fans not to come!”

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Certainly, the buildup to the tournament in much of our press was largely negative, focusing on hooligan worries and the current political situation. It is indeed a pity that while South American fans travelled to Russia by the tens of thousands, European and particularly England fans came to Russia in far smaller numbers than usual, especially given England’s unexpected run to the semi-finals.

So did the British media get Russia wrong? Well, perhaps a bit.

The fans who did come have been impressed by the positive atmosphere: the street parties, the surprisingly lax police presence, the good-natured welcome from the majority of Russians, and the hot weather and cheap beer.



Along with most Russians, I’ve been surprised by just how great the atmosphere has been, but I always expected Russia to put on an excellent World Cup. I was a Moscow correspondent for more than a decade, and have seen the city and country change beyond recognition in that time. I’ve been telling anyone who will listen for some time that most fans who came to Russia would be likely to have a great time.

That doesn’t mean that journalists should have ignored any of the negative issues around Russia, and nor should anyone be in any doubt that much of the World Cup bonhomie is likely to fade when the tournament leaves. But when I hear even some football journalists here for the first time expressing amazement that Moscow is a “normal place” that has nice restaurants and residents who don’t look like aliens; when friends at home who have happily travelled to genuinely dangerous parts of the world tell me they’re too nervous to come to Russia, I do wonder if us foreign correspondents could have done a better job of explaining the country.



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Blaming the media is the easy way out, however. There is certainly some terrible coverage of Russia, and some blinkered “experts” with an axe to grind. It is true that if you only read the British tabloids about Russia, you would get a skewed picture, but the same could be said for many subjects.

But in the end, Russia’s bad press is largely of its own making. Take the pre-tournament coverage of the potential for hooliganism at the World Cup. As we reported in-depth, Russian hooligan groups were reined in by the Kremlin ahead of the World Cup to make sure that the big tournament went off without violence, and were never likely to be a problem.

Many British outlets ran ludicrously overegged coverage of the potential for hooliganism. But two years ago, Russian football fans went on a violent rampage in Marseille, and the response from certain officials was to say “well done lads, keep it up!” If you allow your officials to make such statements without censure, can you really be surprised when tabloids get overexcited about the impending hooligan bloodbath at your home tournament?

At the Guardian, we try harder than many to give a balanced picture of Russia. So if you were reading us about Russia in recent months and years, you would know all about Moscow’s huge urban regeneration programme, its craft beer revolution and its beautiful metro system. You may have read Andrew Roth’s journey through four World Cup host cities on the majestic Volga river, or my summation of last year’s warm-up tournament, the Confederations Cup, as well-organised, and full of happy, smiling people.

But we also cover the rights abuses, the politicised trials and the Kremlin’s role in the war in Ukraine. We’re not a travel guide, and it’s not our job to remind everyone that you can get a great flat white in Moscow or have a fantastic night out in St Petersburg every time we write about the difficult issues and abuses.

Angus Roxburgh, a journalist who later worked in PR for the Kremlin, recounted in his book Strongman that the Russian government would demand better coverage in the Western press. When he pointed out that PR could only go so far if it was not accompanied by real change, they brushed him off. “What really needed changing, of course, was the message, not the way it was conveyed,” he wrote. That never happened.

With the World Cup, Russia is changing some part of the message, finally. Hundreds of thousands of foreigners are seeing that there is a fun side to Russia. For years, it has been easier for Russian officials to bray about Russophobia than to open up and show off a different side of the country. It may be a temporary phenomenon, and it may not make the darker aspects fade away, but it is definitely to be welcomed.