Iceland’s Men’s Football Team Bringing 2,900 Pairs Of Socks To Russia

In what is being criticised as excessive and wasteful, Iceland’s team is bringing an inexplicable 2,900 pairs of socks to the World Cup in Russia this year, strictly for personal use.

Fréttablaðið reports that Vakandi, an organisation dedicated to, amongst other things, reducing waste in Iceland, has been a vocal critic of this idea. The national team is already bringing a tremendous amount of luggage with them — so much so, in fact, that their luggage has completely filled the cargo hold of their plane and have taken over the back six rows of seats, with some luggage even having to be stored in one of the bathrooms.

Within this cargo is 2,900 pairs of socks, to be used exclusively by the team and staff. Rakel Garðarsdóttir, the spokesperson for Vakandi, believes this is excessive and wasteful.

“I feel this actually sets a bad example,” she told reporters. “It’s just these eleven players and their substitutes, playing a minimum of three games.”

She points out that these socks have not been manufactured in Iceland, meaning they were all flown into the country, and will now be flown to Russia.

“And where do they then end up?,” she asks. “In a landfill in Russia? This I would consider to be the apex of consumption and wastefulness.”

Read more about Icelandic football and the World Cup here.