A circus bear used to open a soccer match in Russia's town of Pyatigorsk on Saturday caused outrage from animal welfare groups.

The bear, named 'Tima', performed gestures and handed the match ball to the referee before the third-tier match between FC Mashuk-KMV and FC Angusht.

FC Angusht, who had initially shared the video, said that the bear was to be used in the World Cup opening ceremony, a claim which FIFA denied according to the BBC.

FIFA World Cup will begin in Russia on June 14.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.