"The love-it-or-loathe-it England Band has been cleared to play at the World Cup - despite a ban on musical instruments at the tournament. Telegraph Sport can reveal the band has been granted an exemption from rules prohibiting instruments other than ""horns and pipes"" being brought into stadiums during Russia 2018. The band was banned from the last World Cup in Brazil and only a last-minute intervention spared it the same fate at the 2016 European Championship. This time, it has left nothing to chance, according to band leader John Hemmingham. ""We've got an official letter that says we can get in,"" he told Telegraph Sport, revealing the Football Association had successfully lobbied tournament organisers on the band's behalf. ""It means the world to us, obviously, because we can go in and do what we do now. We can, to a certain extent, determine the mood."" The England Band plays for supporters ahead of the match between England and Costa Rica at Elland Road, Leeds Credit: AFP Hemmingham revealed four members of the band were travelling to Russia and would bring with them two sets of drums, a trumpet and a euphonium (small tuba). They were due to arrive in Volgograd on Sunday morning ahead of England's opening match against Tunisia. Hemmingham said the band had yet to decide whether to strike up in the streets before or after Monday's game, adding: ""We'll just weigh it up and see what the situation is."" Admitting band members had ""concerns"" about how they would be greeted due to the diplomatic crisis between Britain and Russia and the latter's hooligan problem, he said: ""We won't be doing anything to cause any unwanted attention."" WorldCup - newsletter promo - end of article The band began playing at England matches in 1996 and had followed the team around the world before being banned by from the last World Cup. It was also refused entry to the team's opening match of Euro 2012 before being allowed into the rest of the games. And it was almost denied access to England's Euro 2016 matches after the FA failed to apply for an exemption to tournament rules on instruments. The list of prohibited items at World Cup games this summer includes: ""musical instruments and wind instruments for producing loud sounds (including vuvuzelas). The only exceptions are horns and pipes"". World Cup whatsapp promo"
{}