Japan and Korea in 2002 means there won't be any games at all here in the evenings because it will be 4-5am in Japan. At best they'll be on at breakfast and lunchtime. I don't think so. In South Africa 60,000 people were murdered last year. The last time I was in Johannesburg, no car stopped at red traffic lights at night for fear of attack.
Life is cheap.
FIFA bureaucrats haven't noticed that of course, because they went around accompanied by dozens of police. But the ordinary punters will, and going to the World Cup could become a hazardous occupation indeed, quite different from a quick trip across the Channel to France. The England camp are saying the withdrawal of Brazil is good for us. Now, I don't want to knock people who have slaved to bring the tournament here. Win, lose or draw, Alec McGivan, Tony Banks, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and the others deserve our deepest gratitude.