There’s a real chance Monday’s World Cup match in Volgograd, Russia will have some unwanted visitors.
Various reports from the ground indicate that Volgograd Arena has been swarmed by small flies ahead of the first World Cup game the city will host, Monday’s tilt between England and Tunisia.
Reporters from BBC Sport on the scene have said that there are massive swarms of the insects to the point that England’s players will require insect repellent before taking the field.
“They are on your face, stick to your lips, get inside your nostrils, your ears and your hair,” said BBC Sport’s Natalie Pirks, via the BBC. “I’ve had to debug myself at bedtime as you find dead ones you’ve splatted in the strangest of places.”
“If Sunday night at the stadium was anything to go by, these little creatures are going to make it extremely uncomfortable for everyone there,” BBC radio commentator John Murray added. “There are billions of them. At one point last night it felt like I had a hundred thousand in my hair. Fortunately they haven’t bitten me at all, it’s just their presence that is unpleasant.
“We were warned about many things before coming to Russia, but this was not one of them.”
According to Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports, helicopters have been flying over the stadium this past week dousing the area with insecticide.
First time for everything: Just had to abort going live on Sky Sports News with seconds to spare because of invasion of flies outside England team hotel. Big problem here in Volgograd. Helicopters have been spraying insecticide over the stadium this week
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) June 17, 2018
The stadium’s location right on the banks of the Volga River is apparently making the problem worse, as the water is a breeding ground for the midges.
In other words, there is a real chance we could witness a Joba Chamberlain moment on Monday. There’s just something about the World Cup and insect invasions, it seems.
