Russian soccer fans were spared a fate worse than Santa Barbara on Wednesday night, after ORT television was given an emergency influx of money to allow it to show the Champions' League quarterfinal between Spartak Moscow and Nantes.


Last fall, it was reported that Ostankino did not have enough money to pay UEFA for its Champions' League soccer coverage, and the last match of the qualifying round, a 1-0 win over Legia Warsaw, was not shown on local television.


But Wednesday morning, Segodnya reported that President Boris Yeltsin had decreed an undisclosed amount of money to ORT and the first leg quarterfinal would be televised from France. The second leg is scheduled for Moscow on March 20.


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Thursday's Winners' Cup match between Dinamo Moscow and Rapid Vienna will be televised at 8:30 p.m. on tape delay on RTR television, Channel Two. Play starts at 7:30 p.m. at Lokomotiv Stadium for hardy souls wishing to see the game live. Tickets range from 15,000 rubles ($3.10) to 25,000.