Around 2,000 Iranians will travel to Brazil to watch the 2014 World Cup, said the head of the Iran-Brazil Friendship Association.
Mirqasem Momeni told the English-language newspaper ˈIran Dailyˈ published Monday, “Our assessment of the number of Iranians visiting Brazil will be announced once coordination with the Brazilian embassy in Tehran and travel agencies is completed.”
Given the distance and high foreign exchange rates, the trip is costly for Iranian soccer fans, Momeni said adding FIFA has allocated 5,000 tickets as Iran’s quota for each game in the 2014 World Cup.
Iran Football Federation refers those who seek to obtain World Cup ticket to reliable traveling agencies. They can then get the tickets for three matches of the Iranian team at three price-ranges of 8.5 million rials (over $ 2,800), 12.5 million rials and 18 million rials.
Iranian expatriates can acquire tickets via Internet and outside the mentioned quota, he said.
He put the travel expenses for each Iranian Intending to attend the World Cup matches at €8,000.
In addition, the travelers should set aside €2,500 for food, transportation and tour costs, he added.
According to him, a round-trip ticket of Brazil costs between 80 and 100 million rials per person.
“We urge soccer fans not to travel to Brazil individually since the dominant language in this Latin American nation is Portuguese and Brazilians are less familiar with English. Also, lack of acquaintance with Brazilian customs and culture as well as absence of a reliable tour guide will create problems for those who intend to undertake individual trips.”
Given the occurrence of yellow fever in parts of Brazil, Momeni recommended the travelers to get yellow fever shots.
Since Brazil is considered as one of the most expensive nations in terms of telephone communications, he said, the travelers should have their laptops, tablets and other internet gadgets to connect with Iran because internet connections such as Skype can be a cheap alternative to per-minute phone call, he added.
