What could possibly go wrong at the World Cup

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Just as the World Cup kicks off, it’s sobering to think that the World’s biggest sporting event requires a huge amount of insurance cover.  Everything from natural disasters and terrorism to player injuries and household damage, there are a huge amount of eventualities must be insured for, which means that there is a multi billion pound risk industry that surrounds the World Cup.

Here are some example World Cup Risk Factors:

FIFA alone has purchased $650 million in insurance for total cancellation of the World Cup 2010

22% have seen friends or family spill food or drink while watching sport on TV – Indian food caused the worst stains, leading insurers to urge football fans not to get “curried away”

A footballer at the peak of his career who is playing for one of their nation’s top leagues, could be covered by approximately £50 million worth of insurance

David Beckham has taken out the biggest personal insurance policy in sporting history at £100 million

In 2006, Paul Hucker from Ipswich took out insurance against ‘football trauma’ so that he would be compensated with £1m in damages if England were knocked out early of the World Cup

Watch this video to learn more fascinating facts about the World Cup insurance industry.

High altitude World Cup venues could be nightmare for goalkeepers

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High altitude World Cup venues could be nightmare for goalkeepers The new ball is not the only thing that will cause controversy in the World Cup according to a leading sports engineer, who believes the low air density in South Africa’s high-altitude stadia will result in a tournament of high-speed shots.

Professor Steve Haake, head of sports engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, has been investigating how South Africa’s high-altitude venues, such as Johannesburg’s Soccer City, will affect games throughout the competition.

Professor Haake said: “High altitude means lower air density and subsequently less drag on the ball. Combine this with the faster Jabulani ball and we could be seeing significantly faster shots and free kicks. Johannesburg, for example, will have around 20 per cent less air density than Cape Town. If teams don’t factor this into their training they could fall foul of the faster shots it’ll produce.”

According to Professor Haake’s research, a non-spinning 18 metre free kick hit at about 60mph, with no wind, would take around 0.82 seconds at sea-level in Durban or Port Elizabeth. The same shot would take about two hundredths of a second less time in Johannesburg. This means the ball in Johannesburg would be around 41cm ahead of the ball in Durban in real time.

Professor Haake said: “Higher temperatures will decrease air density even further, so goalkeepers will need to be prepared for fast, unpredictable shots. Finger-tip saves can make all the difference and a ball that is over two diameters ahead of where they expect it to be will really test their skills.”

Warning of unexpected broadband charges from watching the World Cup online

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Kick off is only a day away and many football fanatics will be planning their schedule to make the most of World Cup viewing – something that will be made considerably easier with live TV streaming and catch up TV services now available through their broadband connection.

Fans can now watch the action at home, at work, even outside if they have a mobile broadband connection. However many viewers may be unaware they are at risk of breaching the download limit/fair usage policy administered by their broadband provider and landing themselves with speed throttling or a hefty fine.

Michael Phillips of Broadbandchoices.co.uk comments:  “The convenience of internet TV coupled with the immense popularity of the World Cup games means a significant number of people are now more likely to be tuning in through their broadband connection. Unfortunately this also raises concerns over download limits and fair usage policies. Streaming just one world cup match in HD alone will use up around 2.4GB, but with over 50 games scheduled to be broadcast in June online football fans could easily breach the terms of their contract.  Any football fan who experiences speed throttling will find it seriously impairs their viewing experience. Furthermore those who breach the terms of their broadband download limit may find themselves paying anything up to £1 per additional GB downloaded – with over 60 games to watch in total, this will mount up very quickly. We strongly urge any World Cup viewers planning to watch through their broadband connection to check with their broadband provider before downloading any content. Even if they have an ‘unlimited’ package there are still likely to be rules in place they must adhere to.”

Broadbandchoices.co.uk offers these tips for watching the World Cup online:

Pick the right ISP – Some providers like Be Broadband or O2 Broadband are designed with heavy downloaders in mind. Although their ‘unlimited’ packages come with fair usage policies attached, both ISPs are more generous with their allowances than most.  The top packages from Sky and Virgin Media have no download limits or traffic management policies attached. Ultimately, you need to compare what is available in your area using an Ofcom-accredited comparison calculator to find the best deal for you.

Track your usage – If you have a set download limit, or you’re concerned about exceeding your fair usage allowance during the World Cup, then installing a free Broadband Download Monitor is a great way of tracking your downloads and you can even set alarms to alert you as you near your limit.

Stampede before World Cup brings new security measures

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Stampede before World Cup brings new security measures The stampede and resulting injuries amongst soccer fans at an exhibition match between Nigeria and North Korea prompted football authorities to put some better security measures in place for the games in the upcoming World Cup.  At least 14 people, including one police officer, were injured in the crush trying to get through the stadium gates at Makhulong on Sunday.

FIFA, football’s chief governing board, maintains that the responsibility for the melee lies with the Nigerian security organization, and that FIFA had nothing to do with arranging the ‘friendly’ match.

The FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, said his organization takes this warning very seriously, and assured members of the media that this sort of thing will not happen during the World Cup games.

The stampede was apparently caused chiefly by the distribution of free tickets at the stadium just prior to the match.  Fans both with and without tickets mobbed the gates once they were opened, and police and security guards managed to get them closed temporarily, but another stampede occurred when they reopened a short time later.

FIFA emphasized that they will exercise greater caution in several respects, including pre-game distribution of tickets and keeping a wider perimeter around the stadiums where World Cup matches are played.  Presumably, no one without a valid ticket will be able to get closer than 40 metres from the gates, and there will be more entrances to keep bottlenecks from forming.  Fans will also be warned to get there on time or early, and leave their cars parked elsewhere.

Football hooligans ordered to hand over passports

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Football hooligans ordered to hand over passports Convicted football hooligans must hand over their passports this week in order to prevent them from attending the South Africa World Cup.

Those who reside in Wales and England that are under football banning orders must give their passports to police stations and are ordered to report to police on every England match day until the tournament is over in order to ascertain they are in the country.

When the World Cup ends on July 11th, all passports will be returned to their owners.

South African police officials have already warned UK hooligans not to attempt to travel into the country with Police minister Nathi Mthethwa stating that the South African officials are already working with the British police to stop hooligans from attending the World Cup in Africa.

Mthethwa stated that they will not take any nonsense and they have made a concrete commitment to the UK authorities.

Head of the domestic World Cup operation, Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson, stated that with the success of football banning orders hooliganism is now a problem of the past due to the fact that less than ten percent of those that receive banning orders reoffend.

Thompson stated that despite this fact, there are small amounts that take part in football related violence which can create a risk to the large amount of people who properly obey the law at football games.

However, he said that the Association of police Officers and police forces has been working closely to identify individuals that are problems and act accordingly.