A senior Russian lawmaker Tamara Pletnyova, overseeing family-related issues has some advice for fellow Russian women during 2018 FIFA World Cup: Don’t have sex with men from different race. On Wednesday, during an interview with a radio station, she spoke in response to a question about the so-called ‘Children of the Olympics’ after the Moscow Games in 1980, a time when contraception was not widely available in the country. She warned about the possible rise in the number of single mothers.

In an interview with Govorit Moskva radio station, Tamara said, “We must give birth to our children. These mixed-race kids suffer and have suffered since Soviet times.” She further added that even when Russian women marry foreigners the relationships often end badly. “It’s one thing if they’re of the same race but quite another if they’re of a different race. I’m not a nationalist, but nevertheless I know that children suffer. They are abandoned, and that’s it, they stay here with mum,” she said.

Tamara said that she would like Russian citizens to get married ‘out of love regardless of their ethnicity’. She also said that when Russian women get married to their foreign partners, they could end up living abroad with their spouses and have no idea how to return home. “Then they come to me at the committee and cry that the child was taken away, removed and so forth. I would like people to get married based on love in our country, regardless of which ethnicity, to Russian citizens who would build a good family, live in harmony, have children and raise them.”

Another lawmaker said foreign fans could bring viruses to the World Cup and infect Russians. Earlier, German coach announced a sex ban on his players. Thousands of football fans from 31 countries are travelling to the World Cup in Russia that kicks off on Thursday with an opening ceremony in the capital followed by a match between the host team and Saudi Arabia. FIFA and the Russia 2018 organising committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Tamara’s comments.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2018 11:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).