Nigerians and World Cup Chickens in Russsia

Nigerian football supporters are muddled by reports to Russian officials to have live chickens delivered into the World Cup venues for good luck charms.
The news of the uncanny request made the rounds last week in various platforms in Russia that Nigerian supporters have had their requests to take in live chickens to the stadium denied by officials, however fans say the preposterous demands did not come from them.
According to reports, Andrei Yermak, Kaliningrad's minister for culture and tourism, said: “It was explained to the fans that according to safety regulations, it is not permitted to enter the stadium with live animals.”
Nigeria is not a nation with such traditions and more-so making a request to a foreign government for live chickens to be brought to an international event does not in any way sound like what Nigerians would engage in despite the circumstances.
Both the Nigerian Football Supporters Club and the Nigerian Eagles Supporters Club told KweséESPN, they are oblivious to the source of any such requests being made to Russian officials ahead of Nigeria’s World Cup games.
“That is ridiculous,” Rafiu Ladipo, president of the NFSC, said. “I have been leading this group for decades, and we have never carried a live chicken into any stadium.
“The only things we carry are our musical instruments and we pray. Prayer is the only charm we have. Why should we need a chicken? Maybe someone just wants to deceive them [the Russians].”
Vincent Okumagba, who heads the rival NESC was also amused by the reports as he told KweséESPN that the first time he heard of the demands was when the reports were made public “We read it just like everybody else, and we were a bit surprised. We would never make such a request, and we never did,
“Perhaps somebody on his own decided that he wanted to take a chicken into the stadium for his own purposes, or maybe he is just having fun. But we do not take chickens into the stadium.
“Maybe somebody somewhere did not understand each other properly, I don't know.”