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This summer, 32 soccer teams from countries not called “The United States” will travel to Russia to compete in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The tournament will kick off in Moscow in June and conclude a month later— assuming the stadium the host country hastily built for the occasion doesn’t collapse at some point along the way.
Officials at the 2014 World Cup (who had apparently never had any exposure to the world of soccer before) were surprised by the amount of alcohol-fueled violence perpetrated by fans in Brazil over the course of the event, and I have a small inkling they might run into a similar problem this year due to the fact that European soccer hooligans won’t have to leave the continent to have the chance to throw bottles at fans of other teams.
However, based on a recent report in The Moscow Times, booze won’t people the only mind-altering substance organizers will have to deal with.
Thanks to regulations established by the Eurasian Economic Union, anyone traveling to Russia for the World Cup will be allowed to bring drugs that are otherwise banned in the country as long as they provide the proper documentation. This includes medical marijuana in addition to heroin and cocaine, because there are apparently places out there handing out prescriptions for those last two (much to the chagrin of the Bills fans who had to smuggle their blow into the stadium the old-fashion way a few of years ago).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear there are any forms gay fans can fill out to make Russia okay with their sexual orientation.
[Complex]