INSIDER World Cup Diary -- Bavaria Repeats Ambush Marketing; N.Korea Fans Watched

(ATR) The Bavaria brewing company's well-publicised "ambush" at the Holland v Denmark game at Soccer City on Monday is not the first time the beer manufacturer has upset FIFA.

Thirty-six women wearing orange branded dresses were removed from the stadium as FIFA sought to "protect" its official commercial partners.

At yesterday’s media briefing, FIFA’s annoyance with the brewer was palpable with "charges" promised against the brewer.

Bavaria and FIFA have previous form and at the 2006 World Cup the brewer distributed free lederhorsen to Dutch fans before the Holland v Ivory Coast game in Stuttgart.

Recognising the ruse, organizers ordered fans to take off the plastic trousers before they entered the stadium. This led to the extraordinary sight of hundreds of Dutchmen watching the game in their underwear.

"They put our trousers in the bin," Peer Swinkels, Bavaria chairman, told the UK's Guardian newspaper at the time.

"Fans going into the stadium had to dump them in a big container. FIFA said that the supporters could get them back afterwards. But the container was full of rubbish so most people didn't bother. I understand that FIFA wants to protect its sponsors. But this is very strange."

Alas, as one wag pointed out yesterday, it seems as if the option of removing the notorious dresses was not presented to the troop of attractive blonde women on Monday.

Anger in the press box

Although we complain a lot - about everything from traffic jams to vuvuzela noise and then some – even the most ardent moaner among the press pack would acknowledge that during a World Cup we have possibly the best job on the planet.

No one works harder to make our lives easier than FIFA’s excellent media team, who are assisted by a legion of volunteers. An example of their efficiency is the detailed stats sheet – which cover every conceivable team and individual angle – that is given out to everyone within 10 minutes of the final whistle.

At the tournament there are only 3,000 written media – which sounds a lot, but when you divide it among FIFA’s 208 members it isn’t at all – so gaining a precious media badge is really a genuine privilege.

Astonishingly some people abuse their coveted positions and the trust that FIFA invests in them. While hundreds on the waiting list for media tribune tickets for last night’s Brazil v North Korea fixture were ultimately turned away, some of the assembled reporters saw their media badge as just a free ticket.

Included in last night’s press box was a (presumably) Mexican journalist dressed up in a full "Nacho Libre" wrestling outfit, with mask and poncho (who disappeared – maybe removed by staff ), a pair of fools who spent the second half posing for photos while the action unfolded behind them, and a "journalist" of Arab descent who spent the game skyping a man dressed in his underwear (his boyfriend?) and swinging the web camera around so that he caught glimpses of the game. Not a notebook in sight among them.

Among those of us working at Ellis Park last night there was genuine annoyance not only that good journalists had lost out to these buffoons, but that the trust invested in us by FIFA had been breached and we were all tainted by their antics.

North Korean fans under surveillance

FIFA was yesterday unable to provide figures on how many North Korean fans were at the game with Brazil at Ellis Park, but it seems as if around 100 fans – likely to be members ofthecountry’s ruling elite - made the journey from the totalitarian state, and were bolstered by a score of Chinese fans who have adopted the team as their own.

INSIDER came face to face with a small contingent of North Korea's supporters on Ellis Park’s concourses, where they were being interviewed by South Korean TV.

The group was clearly being overseen by a couple of anxious looking North Korean security officials, whose face paint and team colours did not belie the purpose of their work.

Throughout, they filmed their fellow fans and despite speaking to their Korean neighbours were obviously reluctant to engage with any western football supporters or media.

Spanish mystery deepens

Spain, who kick off their challenge today against Switzerland, are counting on a good World Cup to boost their flagging bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup finals.

Even a year into the bid race, still no one knows much about their joint pitch with Portugal, and things were no clearer after last week’s FIFA and CONCACAF congresses in Johannesburg, where bid officials had an opportunity to make their case.

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The 12-CONCACAF presentation was described to INSIDER as "a glorified tourism video", which apparently ran out three minutes from the end leaving delegates to linger over a plate of paella on screen.

At the bid expo, where England rolled out David Beckham and Russia made use of Roman Abramovich, no senior figure was in sight on the Spain-Portugal stall.

Rival bid teams are baffled by the absence of any substance from the bid and so, frankly, is INSIDER.

Blatter watch

The FIFA president was at Ellis Park last night for the Brazil v North Korea match and is today at the Spain v Switzerland clash. Recalling the 1966 World Cup on English soil, he tweeted today: "I remember 66 when they played, Switz lost 2-1 but it was their best performance of the tournament. I was on Military Service in 66 - every spare moment I had was spent glued to the World Cup on the black and white television."

World Cup in numbers

50 – the number of finals games Spain will reach when they play Switzerland today, a total reached by six other nations (Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, England and France).

ByINSIDER's European correspondent James Corbett in Johannesburg(james@worldfootballinsider.com)

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