England-Tunisia World Cup Game Overrun by Swarms of Insects

Players in Monday’s England-Tunisia World Cup match were forced to deal with some unusual environmental conditions.

Large swarms of insects descended upon the riverside stadium in Volgograd and were entirely unescapable.

@Natpirks last night’s live for #bbcnews at Six. Well composed whilst swarmed by Mosquitos. Let’s hope #England can do the same tonight. #worldcup2018 pic.twitter.com/qxzNKdMiy5
— Rachel Price (@NewsCamerawoman) June 18, 2018

German TV coverage on in our Moscow hotel... pitchside presenter in Volgograd has gone full bee-keeper. pic.twitter.com/GduVYZ0XPk
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) June 18, 2018

The bugs are believed to be midges, which is actually good news. Midges, unlike mosquitoes, do not bite. They do, however, have a history of disrupting sporting events—just ask former Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

Fox Sports cameras showed English players swatting away the flying pests during warmups. The problem is apparently not limited to midges, either. Fox’s cameras also captured some scary looking moths.

The bugs shouldn’t be much of a nuisance for outfield players, who will be running around, but the goalkeepers could be annoyed if they are stuck standing still for long stretches.

The city of Volgograd applied repellants to the stadium area, though they didn’t appear to help much. The English team also coated its players in repellant before the start of the game, according to the BBC.

BBC radio commentator John Murray came up with an interesting plan to keep the bugs from distracting him in the booth.

“Our plan is to take some towels from the hotel to wear over our heads, but I am concerned about swallowing some while I am commentating,” Murray told the BBC.