Schalke's friendly in Russia called off because of bad weather... three weeks early

The Russian Ministry for Sport have decided to cancel the game intended to mark the Kaliningrad Stadium's inauguration ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

Alexander Rolbinov, vice-president of the local government in Kaliningrad, says the match cannot take place, citing extreme cold which has gripped the nation.

He said: "Due to the ministry’s recommendation and the current weather, we’ve decided to call the game off.

"We apologise to those fans who have already bought tickets and would like to thank Gazprom for their assistance in making such a game initially possible."

The ministry has decided that no matches should be played in any of the stadiums that will be used for the World Cup before April 11.

The 35,000-capacity stadium will host four group games at the 2018 World Cup: Croatia vs Nigeria (June 16), Serbia vs Switzerland (June 22), Spain vs Morocco (June 25) and England vs Belgium (June 28).

If only FIFA hadn't banned snoods... 

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