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Russian official warns locusts threaten to 'disgrace' World Cup pitches

RIJASOLO / AFP / Getty

The endless drone of the vuvuzela made for a memorable 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, but football fans might not be quite as pleased to hear buzzing around stadiums in Russia during this summer's tournament.

The Russian government revealed fears a plague of locusts could threaten to destroy pitches in stadiums along the southern part of the nation, as the pesky insects often feast on crops in the region during the summer months.

Pyotr Chekmaryov, who oversees plant protection at the Russian agricultural ministry, said, as quoted by the Associated Press, that it is his branch's "responsibility" to ensure Russians do not "disgrace ourselves in front of global society, especially where we will have guests from all over the world."

Chekmaryov said: "We have more or less learned how to deal with locusts, but this year I'm afraid we could end up in an international locust scandal. Soccer fields are green. Locusts like places where there is a lot of green. What if they fly to the places where football is played?"

Chekmaryov explained the Volgograd region - where England is set to take on Tunisia and Poland will play Japan - is particularly concerning in regards to locust activity. In 2015, CNN reported millions of the insects descended on farmlands in southern Russia across at least 800,000 hectares.

A similar invasion in 2018 will surely bug a fair few football fans, too.

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