One Billion condoms

There was a time, and really there was when the World Cup was strictly about the football being played and not much else.



Those were the days when you looked forward to the World Cup and wondered who will be top scorer or who would win the Golden Boot for best player.



And after the competition you discuss the goals scored by your favourite or most hated player.



Like in the 50s people wondered about Ferenc Puskas, 17 year old Edson Arantes Do Nascimiento also known as Pele or even Moroccan born French international Just Fontaine.



Then in 1962 the talk was on Pele’s injury and whether he would make the World Cup. He did but did not play much; rather Amarildo replaced him and became the star of the World Cup for Brazil.



In 1966 it had to be Eusebio and the Portuguese team coming from 3-0 down to beat the Koreans 6-3 but eventually England who won the Cup on home soil with a controversial goal from Georf Hurst was the major talking point.



The 70s saw the Dutch as a major attacking force but they never won the Cup despite playing in 2 finals and the 80s was the Brazilians who were clearly the best team but did not win.



Then again, Paolo Rossi made history being the first man (maybe only) to score a hat trick against Brazil.



The Danish side in 1986 also introduced the contra system to the world.



But in the 90s things changed and the World Cup started being more about other things but the football.



I remember the Nigerian team having a fight with their coach Clemens Westahof in 1994 over if their wives and girl friends should stay with them in the hotel.



Was that a football related matter? Maybe if we just faced the assignment at hand we may have gone all the way and you bet that made even more news than Rashidi Yekini failing to score against the Italians in that second round match.



Argentine idol, Diego Maradona also made the news for his drug addiction at the World Cup in the same year.



In 1998, David Beckham got a red card against Argentina and England were knocked out of the World Cup but it made more news that he flew to the USA from France to seek solace in the bosom of his wife, Victoria Posh Spice.



All the newspaper headlines and paparazzi photographs made it seem like the World Cup had ended and the spice Girls tour was the next big thing in the world.



There was also the sex as incentive issue in 2006 when Ukraine playing in their first World made more news than Ronaldo who became the top scorer ever in world Cup history.





The Ukrainian coach, Oleg Blokhin really wanted his players to go all the way at the World Cup and gave them an extra incentive to win.





He told them that if they got to the semi finals, he would lift the law on celibacy and allow the players have sex with their wives and girlfriends. But intriguing thing about it was that he said the players did not have a choice- they must have the sex even if it meant him forcing their wives and girlfriends on them. Did they get to the semi finals? No! But the sex as incentive story was bigger than whatever the Ukrainians did at that World Cup.





Wow! Football is fast turning to show biz these days.



I can go on and on but the point is that these days, the World Cup is hardly about the football being played on the pitch because other stories make the event more and most interesting.

One billion condoms, 40,000 sex workers



The 2010 World Cup seriously does not want to be left behind on the table of recent championships that had football as last news on the page.



Recently there was a story making the rounds on the internet that the prostitution capital of the world was going to move from wherever it is now to South Africa.



That report said that one billion condoms are expected in South Africa and must be used up as 40 000 commercial sex workers engage in brisk business.



And the report continues that most of these 40,000 will come from as far as Russia, Congo and guess where? Nigeria!



We are talking about the football World Cup here and not a script from an x rated movie... except maybe I am still old fashioned into thinking the world Cup was still about football.



Now because of the lure of expensively paid for sex with diseases to add to the bargain, the South Africans are more interested in telling visitors that the sex will be free from diseases (though expensive) than to talk about how ready the facilities are to host the event or even the high quality of play we should expect.



But who cares about football when it is the football World Cup we are talking about?



Someone please tell me it is the football World Cup we are about to watch?



I even hear that the country’s president, Jacob Zuma, himself a polygamist with 20 children has been going round the world begging countries to supply more condoms to South Africa.



Naked truth about Maradona



Then there is the other matter of Argentina’s manager, who I think is the worst coach amongst the 32 at the World Cup.



He probably knows that despite his superstar team, Argentina may not win the World Cup so he has taken the attention once again off the football.



He has promised to run the streets of Buenos Aires stark naked if Argentina wins the World Cup.



Who wants to see that ugly sight? Certainly not me and certainly not the Argentine people so I thank God He the good Lord will not permit us to have nightmares so I guess He will ensure Argentina do not go anywhere near lifting the trophy but once again, some news outside the football on the pitch.



Be warned! You may catch something



In June this year, According to a new study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, visitors travelling to South Africa will need to worry less about 'exotic' tropical diseases such as malaria, and concentrate on protecting themselves from a wide range of more common travel-related diseases, such as acute diarrheal illness, sexually transmitted diseases, febrile illnesses, insect and tick bites, and vaccine-preventable infections, especially influenza and measles.



Can we please talk about football?



At the World Cup, I want to read about the number of goals Messi, Tevez, Higuan and Rooney will score; I want to read about the beautiful football that will be on display and I also want to update my factfile by taking records as the games progress.



Football is about football so let us keep it at that.



Let us enjoy the beautiful game.