MOSCOW, July 11 (RIA Novosti) - British soccer club Manchester United, winners of the May 21 Champions League final in Moscow, still owe the city transport service $240,000, the service said on Friday.
Pyotr Ivanov, the head of Mosgortrans, told a news conference: "We transported Chelsea and Manchester United fans from Moscow airports. Unfortunately, Manchester United have not paid in full."
In the largest invasion by foreign soccer fans the city has ever seen, around 40,000 British fans traveled to the Russian capital for the final. United lifted the trophy after a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Moscow's transport service provided around 1,000 buses to ferry fans to and from the city's airports.
The final was accompanied by a massive security presence, with thousands of police deployed on the streets, and the city metro system was kept running for several extra hours.
Responding to the media report, a Manchester United official said later Friday that the money would be transferred to Russia early next week as the invoices were still being processed, which he said was standard practice.
The club representative also expressed surprise that the Russian transport service chose to discuss the issue via the media rather than directly with Manchester United.
Manchester United is the richest soccer club in the world according to Forbes Magazine, which in April put the club's value at $1.8 billion, up from $1.5 billion when U.S. investor Malcolm Glazer bought the club in 2005.
