On the morning of 7 April, the Egyptian adventurer Mohamed Nofal kicked off his one-man journey to Russia – by bicycle. The arduous pedal-powered trip is aimed at encouraging Egypt's football team at the World Cup, which kicks off in Moscow in June. The initiative was announced at a celebratory event at the Russian Cultural Centre in Cairo on 5 April, where a ribbon was cut to mark the official start of the journey. The centre's director Aleksey Tevanyan was present for the event, as was Amin Ali Hassan, a board member at the Egyptian Cycling Federation. Nofal revealed that he aims to cover a distance of 5,000 km in 65 days, crossing several countries: Egypt, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, arriving finally in Russia. He expects to reach the Russian border on 31 May, arriving in Moscow on 7 June, just days before the launch of the World Cup competition. The bicycle journey is coordinated with the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow and parallels celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Russia. Nofal said that he is keen to convey a message of love and peace from the Egyptian youth to the youth of the world.
