England and Tunisia players had to deal with an unexpected distraction ahead of their World Cup match in the city of Volgograd, Russia, on Monday night: a seasonal outbreak of flies and other little bugs.
Players from both teams could be seen trying to wave the swarming bugs — all of which are said to be harmless — away during warm-ups for their Group G opener, with England players using insect repellent to help keep them away.
Officials in the city have reportedly been spraying areas in and around the stadium as well as fan-fest zones with an insecticide that is safe for humans and animals in an effort to mitigate the nuisance.
And World Cup organisers have said that the bugs are a “typical phenomenon for Volgograd in June due to the local climate” and that the “insignificant amount of flying insects will not disrupt any of the scheduled events in Volgograd.”
The Volgograd Arena is on the banks of the Volga River, where the flies are massing.
“Preventive measures have helped reduce the number of insects to lower level,” according to the Volgograd media office.
BBC Sport’s Natalie Pirks, on the ground in Volgograd, said: “They are on your face, stick to your lips, get inside your nostrils, your ears and your hair. I’ve had to debug myself at bedtime as you find dead ones you’ve splatted in the strangest of places.”