Lawmaker says Russian women shouldn't have sex with foreigners of different races

Tamara Pletnyova, a 70-year-old Communist deputy on a committee for families, women and children, told radio station Govorit Moskva that babies born nine months after the joys of the football festivities could “suffer” without fathers present.

“Fine, if they are still of one race. If they are different races then it’s altogether different,” she said Wednesday.

Pletnyova was asked about the “Children of the Olympics,” a term for mixed-race children in the former Soviet Union after international visitors arrived for the 1980 games in Moscow, who have faced discrimination.

The deputy, who has also criticized women reporters who accused her parliamentary colleagues of harassment and assault, said that she’s “not a nationalist” but also said that Russian women face problems even when they marry foreigners.

“I would like in our country that they marry for love, it is not important the ethnicity, but as citizens of Russia ” Pletnyova said, acknowledging that Russia faces a declining birthrate but adding that “we should give birth to our own.”

Russian women are often hypersexualized in Western media, which perhaps played a role in the Argentinean Football Association distributing information to sports reporters about how to hook up with their hosts.

Fans gear up for the 2018 World Cup in Moscow

The association apologized and said the information was given out by mistake.

Tens of thousands of foreigners are expected to come to Russia during the month-long World Cup festivities that begin Thursday, with large contingents of South American, European and Asian fans already in Moscow.

The wave represents a massive influx of tourists for a country where leaders regularly rail against potential foreign influence.

Another lawmaker Alexander Sherin, told Govorit Moskva that Russians should be careful dealing with diseases brought from outside Europe, but added that he did not want to talk about contraception because “people are adults. Everyone understands everything.”

He added that drugs may also be spread as part of “our Western partners’ psychological aggressions.”

Despite the U.S. men’s national team not qualifying for the tournament, American fans have bought the second-most tickets behind the host country at nearly 90,000.

Brazilians bought the third-most tickets with 72,000, and Colombians, Germans and Mexicans all bought more than 60,000 each, according to the latest FIFA release.