Story highlights Three men wore Afro wigs and blackface at government backed parade in Sochi

Sochi will host the Confederations Cup in June

FIFA released a statement saying action at the parade was "inappropriate" and "discriminatory"

Lolade Adewuyi is a sports journalist and the former editor of Goal.com Nigeria. He is currently studying at the Russian International Olympic University.The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Sochi, home of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, has been my home since September 2016 when I moved from Lagos Nigeria, to study at the Russian International Olympic University.

Unlike the nearby state capital, Krasnodar, where there are several universities with African students, in Sochi Africans are a rarity. I am regularly stopped on the street by strangers for photos.

However, I was surprised to see three men in blackface at the Sochi Carnival on Saturday. They wore Cameroon national team jerseys, Afro wigs and carried bananas on a string.

Black face & bananas - this is how Cameroon was presented at the Sochi carnival on Saturday ahead of Fifa Confederations Cup Russia in June. pic.twitter.com/aB7dRes0gZ — Lolade Adewuyi (@Jololade) May 30, 2017

They were part of a float to celebrate the impending FIFA Confederations Cup that will see Germany, Australia, and Mexico play at the Fisht Stadium.

Pictures of the Carnival and the men in blackface soon emerged on the city's official website and Facebook page.