Mexican Fans were forced to celebrate the Day of the Dead inside rather than at Moscow's Red Square.GETTY IMAGES
Mexican football fans "called off" a Day of the Dead-themed parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Friday after communist lawmakers "objected to the event being held so close" to Lenin’s tomb, according to Tom Balmforth of REUTERS. A carnival atmosphere "has taken over parts of the capital" as thousands of fans gather to watch the World Cup. Mexican fans -- whose team is one of 16 that reached the knockout stages -- had "planned a party in the zone set aside for them in the city," followed by a street parade to Red Square several hundred meters away. But one of the organizers said that they were "told by authorities after midday on Friday to hold the parade and event indoors, declining to explain why." Communists of Russia Deputy Head Sergei Malinkovich said that people dressed as skeletons "should not be allowed to march" on what his party has called “hallowed” ground (REUTERS, 6/29).
WORLD CUP FEVER: REUTERS reported the Kremlin’s military regiment surprised World Cup fans in Moscow on Saturday by marching through Red Square with two members "showing off" their football skills. The regiment, which usually marches inside the Kremlin’s walls, "changed its usual itinerary and crossed Red Square in front of a crowd of locals and foreign tourists." Undeterred by "heavy rain," two members of the regiment in ceremonial uniform passed around a football on Red Square’s cobblestones "while members of the cavalry followed marching guards" (REUTERS, 6/30).
SATURDAY BEST: REUTERS' Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber reported Russian women wearing "elaborate bridal dresses" took to the pitch in Kazan on Saturday for a friendly match intended to show their love for football. Wearing floor-length white dresses and running shoes, "the women split up into teams of five and played 15-minute halves on gravel in front of a small crowd" (REUTERS, 7/1).
