If someone told you that football matches in Russia were started with a bear ceremonially handing the match ball to the referee, you would probably accuse them of lazy stereotyping. Welp, you'd be wrong because that is what happened in the Russian 3rd division match between Mashuk-KMV and FC Angusht Nazran over the weekend, when man led a muzzled brown bear to the edge of the pitch, where the animal clapped to the supporters and was also tasked with handing the match ball to the referee.
With the Russian World Cup only a few months away, the incident has led to unconfirmed reports that the bears might be used in the competition in some capacity, but if The Simpsons has taught us anything, is that bears are perhaps not the most suitable participants in live television:
Oh, and in case you were wondering , FC Angusht went on to win the game 3-0, lifting them into 12th place in the RPFL table.
