

Referee Ravshan Irmatov sprays foam to mark the free kick distance during a World Cup match between the Netherlands and Costa Rica. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

A Russian priest has called this summer’s FIFA World Cup a “homosexual abomination,” saying soccer players sporting bright shoes in Brazil were promoting the “gay rainbow.”

“Wearing pink or blue shoes, [the players] might as well wear women’s panties or a bra,” Alexander Shumsky wrote in a column on Christian website Russian People’s Line, according to the Moscow Times.

In case you were wondering, here are the shoes that Russia was wearing in this year’s tournament:



Also pictured: Algerian players. And their shoes. Obviously. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

“The liberal ideology of globalism clearly wants to oppose Christianity with football,” Shumsky reportedly wrote. “I’m sure of it. Therefore I am glad that the Russian players have failed and, by the grace of God, no longer participate in this homosexual abomination.”

Russia’s national team failed was eliminated in the first round of this year’s tournament.

About a year ago, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed an anti-gay propaganda bill into law, and this winter, concerns about LGBT rights loomed over the Sochi Games.