MOSCOW -- People in blackface wearing African clothing and carrying bananas marched in a government-backed weekend parade in Sochi, a city that will host one of Cameroon's matches at the Confederations Cup.
A photograph on the city government's official website showed two people in blackface at Saturday's parade. One was wearing an afro-style wig and bananas on a string, while the other was wearing a Cameroon jersey and a headdress while holding a drum. The photo was later removed.
The people in the photograph are accompanied by others waving Cameroonian flags.
The people in blackface appeared as part of a section devoted to the FIFA Confederations Cup, which serves as a warm-up for next year's World Cup. Cameroon play Germany in Sochi on June 25.
The parade, led by Sochi's mayor, also contained people wearing sombreros and fake moustaches to symbolise Mexico, another country which will play next month in the southern Russian city.
The Sochi city government said in a statement that the parade was a "celebration of the different continents and a testimony of Russia's open attitude toward traditions from around the globe."
"By no means did the carnival parade intend to insult anyone," it said. "On the contrary, it was organised with the friendliest of goals in mind: to create a positive atmosphere. We look forward to warmly welcoming the Cameroon national team and their fans, as well as the representatives of all other countries, during the FIFA Confederations Cup.''
During the 2014 World Cup, then-FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, who was the head of FIFA's anti-racism task force, said Russians needed education on discrimination issues ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
"Russia itself needs a special task force, just for Russia and from an educational standpoint internally," he said.