The Russian authorities said yesterday that they were doing everything in their power to prevent revenge attacks on British supporters after a Russian fan was stabbed in Manchester before Wednesday's Uefa Cup final.

Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Sports Minister, said that Manchester United and Chelsea fans attending next week's Champions League final in Moscow would be guarded by 6,000 policemen and soldiers and would be ferried to and from the city's airports in a fleet of 700 police-escorted buses.

Mutko, who is also president of the Russian Football Union, said: “I will make sure that there will be no revenge attacks or things like that. You have to remember that football is a sport, a game, a festivity. Lots of things happen around football, but you can't blame football for that.”

Mutko was in Manchester to see Zenit St Petersburg beat Rangers 2-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium and is anxious to prevent a repeat of the running battles fought between fans of the Scottish club and police.

“We will have everything differently here,” he said. “We cannot predict every single event, but we are doing our best to make sure that the guests who come here have the opportunity to enjoy the Luzhniki Stadium. We know how, when and where people can go and we are going to prevent fights or other accidents.

“I think yesterday in Manchester I saw maybe 100,000 Scots fans and I don't want to see the same picture in Moscow. I want it to be a great event, a festival.”

He added that he hoped that “tickets will be given to people who will not come here to debauch or with the intention of ruining the match or destroying something here”.

Unlike in Manchester, where the failure of a big screen that was set up to relay the match sparked rioting, in Moscow there will be no such screens. Drinking on the streets is banned in Russia and there will be no relaxation of the law for the final, which takes place on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry said: “The open consumption of alcohol in public places is not allowed, but we have restaurants and bars where it's allowed.”

Mutko insisted that the Russian riot police would not act in a heavy-handed manner. “Of course, when fans go to games with their banners and flags it's one thing, but it's another thing when they go to the game carrying lots of beer with them or they want to stop traffic,” he said.

“Here in Russia we have laws that we have to help us prevent accidents and we will act in a proper and calm way. It will be done in a very polite way. If we all behave respectfully to one another there will be no problems. We call on you to respect our customs and the people who live here.”

The Russian pronouncements came as some Manchester United and Chelsea supporters said that they had given up trying to get to Moscow for the final, put off by expensive flights and the scarcity of accommodation, and were finding it hard to find buyers for their tickets.

Neither club has sold the full complement of their official travel packages. Darren Mantle, of CFCnet, an unofficial Chelsea fans' website, said: “People are telling us that they are not going to go because it's just so expensive.”

Tony Burlton, chairman of the Manchester United supporters' club London branch, said: “The location is the main thing. There's a lot of potential for things to go wrong. If you book privately, accommodation is the main factor.

“Flights you can get, via Riga or Helsinki, but the hotels were sold out before either of the teams got through.”