"The fanaticism of most countries over soccer is amazing..."
Yes, from the BBC:
This summer's World Cup finals could spark the
biggest outbreak of truancy ever seen in
England, with millions of workers prepared to
"pull a sickie".
A survey by Barclaycard revealed that as many
as six million workers are ready to call in sick,
rather than risk missing England matches.
But the mass outbreak of football fever could
cost the economy billions of pounds, especially
if England do well.
The survey sought opinions from more than
4,000 football fans, and 40% of them admitted
they would be happy to call in sick if their
working hours clashed with England matches.
If that percentage is repeated among the
estimated 15 million workers who want to
watch England play, the cost to the economy
if England were to reach the World Cup final
could be as high as £3.2bn.
Even if England fail to get
past the group stages, the
loss is likely to exceed £1
billion.
Barclaycard sponsorship
director Nic Gault said: "This
research demonstrates the
passion of football fans in
the UK.
"I'm sure many of them would argue that if England win
the World Cup it will all be worth it."
England's opening game against Sweden takes place on
Sunday 2 June at 1030BST and is unlikely to have a
dramatic effect on the workforce.
Massive audience
But their second match - against Argentina - kicks off at
1230BST on Friday 7 June, and is certain to attract a
massive audience.
The third game against Nigeria starts at 0730BST on
Wednesday 12 June and could attract as many viewers
as the Argentina match if England are in with a chance
of qualifying.
Subsequent games will have either early morning or
lunchtime kick-offs.
A Barclaycard spokesman said one way to tackle the
problem would be for employers to provide coverage of
the matches for their staff.
"A huge number of our staff are football fans so we will
be ensuring that they will be able to keep up to speed
with all the Word Cup action by bringing in TVs," he
said.
news.bbc.co.uk
Since that story, ENgland played Argentina last Friday. 5% took the day off, 10% called in sick, and 70% workplaces provided TVs. That one game is estimated to have cost 1.2 billion pounds, $1.8 billion. England won, one-nil. |
