Spanish football fan allowed to bring drum to Spain-Russia match

Moscow, June 29 (IANS) Veteran football fan Manuel Caceres Artesero, better known as Manolo "el del Bombo", which translates as Manolo The Bass Drummer, has been allowed to bring his bass drum, which he has been playing at Spain's matches for four decades, to Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium for the FIFA World Cup Round-of-16 encounter between his country and Russia.

The 69-year-old football fan had posted a call for help on his Twitter account, saying that Spain "needed its drum," and had also asked Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the Spanish King and the Prime Minister and "the whole of Spain" to help, reports Sputnik news agency.

Spanish leading sports media supported Manolo, spreading his call for help. Journalists from Spanish newspaper Marca contacted FIFA, and two hours later a FIFA representative assured them that everything would be all right.

"Thank you, everyone, for your help! We did this! I'll keep you informed! Thank you, everyone!" Manolo posted on his Twitter account.

Manolo, who has attended all of Spain's international matches since 1982, failed to play his bass drum during Spain's matches against Iran in Kazan and against Morocco in Kaliningrad, as he was denied access to the stands with the instrument due to safety concerns.

He was only allowed to play the drum in Sochi, where Spain played out a 3-3 draw with Portugal.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)