The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com

Football News - Robbed? Balls! Call the Embassy!

Korean Air

Korean Air Lines anticipates this summer's World Cup will help boost revenue by ($207 million).

We Were Robbed!

During South Korea's 2-1 loss to Uruguay in a friendly in Montevideo on 13 February, thieves broke into to the players' dressing room and made off with their valuables. The Uruguayan players' association reimbursed the victims, who lost shoes, clothes and other possessions, to the tune of US$2,500 each but the theft is not going to go down well back in Korea where Uruguay face France, Demark and Senegal in Group A.

Camps

France, despite playing its group games in Korea will set up its training camp in Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.
Slovenia is set to begin its preparations in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
Brazil will be based in Busan, Korea.

Balls!

French stars Mikael Silvestre and Emmanuel Petit are unhappy with the new Adidas Fevernova ball to be used at the World Cup.

Prisons

The Japanese press continues to be full of British hooligan stories. The latest involves a lack of space in the nation's detention centers, due to an upsurge in domestic crime, which may mean arrested football hooligans being transported long distances to areas that have room. The hotels are all full and so are the prisons.
The British Embassy will set up ‘fan embassies' to circulate information to fans near England's match venues.