Football fans will reportedly be allowed to bring cocaine and marijuana to the 2018 FIFA World Cup as long as they go through the bureaucratic hoops necessary to secure papers.
The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union grants travelers the right to bring banned substances into the country with supporting medical documents written in the Russian language. According to the regulations, the list of drugs allowed into the Russian-led bloc includes cocaine, cannabis and heroin.
Russia’s 2018 World Cup Organizing Committee told the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper that law enforcement officers on duty at World Cup stadiums will be tasked with verifying the authenticity of drug prescriptions.
“Security officers will monitor the enforcement of rules for carrying prescription drugs to stadium grounds at checkpoints,” the organizing committee said Tuesday.
Izvestia cites Russia’s Federal Customs Service as saying that football fans carrying the drugs will have to fill out a customs declaration.
Russia is set to host the World Cup in 2018 from June 14 to July 15 in 11 cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi.
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