World Cup Confusion: Russian pol contradicts another by telling citizens they're free to have sex with visiting fans

No, this is not the reaction to Mikhail Degtyaryov’s comments. It’s the celebration of Russian fans after their team scored a goal against Saudi Arabia on Thursday. (AP Photo/Victor Caivano)
No, this is not the reaction to Mikhail Degtyaryov’s comments. It’s the celebration of Russian fans after their team scored a goal against Saudi Arabia on Thursday. (AP Photo/Victor Caivano)

Should Russian citizens engage in sexual activity with visiting fans? Members of the country’s government have offered up contradictory advice. Who knew that the topic of sex and attraction to people of other nationalities and citizenry would be such a politically divisive issue?

What the heck is going on?

In the days before the World Cup began on Thursday a Russian politician said fans should not have sex with non-Russian fans attending the event. Parliament member Tamara Pletnyova’s reasoning was that women could potentially give birth in nine months after a night of fun with a visiting World Cup fan.

“Maybe they will get married, maybe they won’t. But the kids will suffer, just like they suffered [after the Moscow Olympics],” she said, adding that it’s worse if a Russian woman was to have sex with a fan of a different race because races shouldn’t be mixing.

Another member of Russian Parliament, Mikhail Degtyaryov, chimed in on Thursday to contradict Pletnyova’s comments. Have all the fun you want, Degtyaryov said via the Guardian:

“The more love stories we have connected to the World Cup, the more people from different countries fall in love, the more children are born, the better,” MP Mikhail Degtyaryov said on Thursday, Tass reported.

“Many years from now these children will remember that their parents’ love story began during the World Cup in Russia in 2018.”

This is a conundrum.

So what should Russians do?

It’s a little awkward to be in the position of giving this type of advice. But the ground rules seem pretty simple here no matter what a politician afraid of mixing races says. Have fun. Enjoy the World Cup. Treat everyone with kindness. And follow their hearts when it comes to looking for the right person whether it’s for a night, week or potentially the rest of their lives.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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