Russian official: Nigerian fans won't be able to bring chickens to World Cup games

Will a chicken get smuggled into one of Nigeria’s World Cup games?

It’s apparently a viable question now that we know the fans are officially prohibited from taking chickens into World Cup stadiums according to Russian officials.

“Our information center MCH-2018 receives a lot of various questions: fans from Nigeria asked if it’s possible to go to the stadium with a chicken, it’s their symbol, the citizens are sick with them at all matches, we told them that to pass a live chicken in any case it is impossible “, Kaliningrad Minister of Culture and Tourism Andrei Ermak said to Interfax via a translation.

It’s a disappointing development for anyone who wanted to see a chicken escape and get onto the field during any of Nigeria’s games. The Super Eagles play Croatia on Saturday in Kaliningrad in the first World Cup game for each team.

Ermak also told Interfax that Russian officials would be happy to tell Nigerian fans where they can buy chickens in Russia. That’s some great hospitality. But it may be too off-the-wall according to a journalist with the BBC, who said he was unaware of the practice on Friday afternoon.

Our hope is that any Nigerian fans with chickens — if they really do want chickens — don’t cross paths with a Russian fan with a bear. That could turn out to be an ugly and feathery scene if they’re close to each other.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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