Thai Prison Holds Own "World Cup"
By DAVID MORDKOFF
Associated Press Writer
June 4, 2002, 1:41 PM EDT
Prisoners from among some 50 nationalities serving time at Klongprem Prison
in Thailand will participate in a mock World Cup.
An eight-teams tournament is being staged to ease tensions at the
overcrowded prison on Bangkok's outskirts, according to Natee Chitsawang,
deputy director general of the Corrections Department.
Natee said Tuesday the two-week tournament will kick off June 13 and
coincide with the real World Cup being held in South Korea and Japan.
The seven-man teams will include players from Japan, Nigeria, France,
Argentina, Germany, Brazil, England and Thailand.
More than 1,300 inmates at the prison are foreigners, including 132
Nigerians, most of them jailed for drug offenses. There are 13 Britons, six
Germans, six Dutch, four Italians, three French and three Swiss prisoners,
and two each from Spain and the United States.
Except Nigeria and Thailand, the other teams will comprise players of more
than one nationality because there aren't enough prisoners to make up
complete national teams.
The matches will be played on a field half the size of regulation within the
walls of the prison. The winning team will be awarded a replica trophy of
the 2002 World Cup, Natee said.
The prisoners are allowed to watch live broadcasts of the real World Cup.
* __
GIVE FANS THEIR DUE:@ England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will ask his players
to show proper appreciation to the thousands of fans who have flown to Japan
to support them at the World Cup.
At the end of a 1-1 tie in their opening game against Sweden, the England
players, disappointed at letting a lead slip away, walked off the field
without pausing to acknowledge their supporters.
While some players may have made small gestures to the crowd, only
goalkeeper David Seaman, who made two great saves during the game, was seen
going through the normal English practice of applauding the fans.
Eriksson said he would speak to the players about the matter before they
take on Argentina on Friday.
"I can understand the players, because they were very disappointed. But even
if you lose, you should always say thank you to the fans," he said.
"They have paid a lot of money and have traveled a very long way to support
us. Their support was excellent, the best in the tournament so far. England
supporters are amazing at every game."
* __
BY THE NUMBERS:@ FIFA has asked Nigeria to highlight the numbers and the
names on its uniforms. FIFA said broadcasters have complained the numbers
were too difficult to read on television.
The Nigerian team numbers were white on green shirts, but the team is
expected to replace them with black numbers for Friday's match against
Sweden.
* __
HOLY MADONNA!:@ Everybody knows that Italy is soccer mad. But the remarkable
viewership for the team's first World Cup match -- about one in three
Italians -- surprised even the squad's coach.
"Holy Madonna!" coach Giovanni Trapattoni said Tuesday. "That's an
impressive figure. I knew that a lot of people would be following the match,
but not that many."
About 19 million of Italy's 58 million people watched Monday's match --
81.33 percent of the viewing audience, according to industry figures.
Surely they turned off their TV sets happy. Their team won 2-0 against
Ecuador in one of the most impressive starts by favored teams.
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