Ukraine's 'model-like' border guardsFor the first time in history, male football fans will actually want to be pulled over at the airport and given a thorough pat down while making their way to Euro 2012 this summer.
The staff checking passports at Ukraine's Borispol airport, near Kiev, are nothing like the stereotypical border guards that one imagines at an Eastern European checkpoint.
Indeed, they are unlike any border guards at any airport - with their manicured nails, perfect make-up and not-a-strand-out-of-place hairstyles.
The young female guards in their severe military uniforms, waiting for their turn to be given a professional make-over, look like they might be models in a men's magazine photoshoot or a slick airline television commercial.
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A young Ukrainian border guard is given tips on wearing make-up and styling her hair
But they are all border guards for a living, and their special pampering is part of a bizarre initiative to provide 'master classes' in grooming.
The Ukrainian government is concerned that it might not be putting its best face forward when it co-hosts Euro 2012 with Poland in June/July.
As a result, it wants to make sure that football fans feel welcome from the moment they step off the plane.
And what better way to soothe pre-tournament jitters than greet travellers with a beautiful and perfectly manicured border guard?
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The female guards in their severe military uniforms, waiting for their turn to be given a professional make-over, look like they might be models in a men's magazine photoshoot
It might be a tad unsubtle but the powers that be hope that this will set the scene for a friendly tournament that thrusts the Ukraine into the international spotlight.
To that end, professional hairdressers and make-up artists have been giving vital grooming tips to female border guards at Borispol airport, which will be the main air hub during the tournament.
Not that everyone thinks the tips are that vital.
Stylist Andrei Yudin, 38, seemed smitten by the guards under his make-up brushes - and rejected more misogynistic claims that it was because the women were ugly.
He said: "Even without any make-up they look astonishing. I just do it for the sake of touching up a beautiful face one more time."
Obviously, male guards have not been expected to attend the classes. After all, there's only so much the experts can do.
Source: Daily Mail, UK
