Indian Football Fan Cycled From Dubai To Russia To Meet Messi

Meet Indian national, who belongs to Kerala and a part-time Mathematics teacher – Clifin Francis. He is a 28 year old football fan who flew to Dubai from Kerala on Febraury 23, bought a cycle there for $700, took a ferry to the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province on the southern coast of Iran. From there the Russian capital is still more than 4,200 km (2,600 miles) away by bike.

Francis has cycled over 4,200 km on his bicycle to make-true his life-long dream of attending a FIFA World Cup match. He began his journey from Sharjah, took a ferry to Bandar Abbas in Iran, and has been cycling to Moscow since early March.

He crossed Iran and Azerbaijan on cycle and was initially meant to cycle through Georgia as well; however, his visa was rejected at the border because he’d “lost a lot of weight from constant cycling”.

As per him “I didn’t look like my picture in the passport. The police took more than eight hours to verify my details, but they were nice to me.” reported BBC.

He said, “I have another five days, 450km more, to get to Moscow – and I am beyond excited.” The Aleppy-native flew down from Kochi to Dubai. “Initially, I wanted to make the entire journey from India, but I faced challenged getting visas to Pakistan and crossing the border. So, I decided to fly to Dubai,” he added.

“When I got stranded at the Azerbaijan- Georgia border, I was with a German cyclist friend. I was with him for five days, and we were supposed to go to Tbilisi together. When I got stranded, he gave me his sim card, and that helped me a lot with connectivity.”

This resulted in Francis having to return to Azerbaijan and cycle back to the Russia-Azerbaijan border. “I finally entered Russia on June 5. I made the best of the time though, I stayed in Baku for ten days, and I made more friends and experienced the local culture,” he explained.

An amateur cyclist, Francis only carried a tent, sleeping bag, a few things to repair his cycle, and a few changes of clothes.

In this journey, Indian Football Fan Francis cycles for five hours every day and would stay in a city or a village if he liked it. “All you need is a good place to pitch your tent and happiness,” he signed off.

Image Credit- Canva