World Cup: Africa Concerned About the English

World Cup officials in South Africa are worried about many things: prostitution, human trafficking, and of course, "these English."

[African National Congress chairman Butana] Komphela said that measures had to be in place for when "these English people come" to a city. He said they were known for partying in the streets and shops would be plundered while the police stood like a guard of honour.

Well, when has that ever happened?
Question answered. The English have been very well-behaved as of late in international competition, and due to the recession many may not be able to afford the plane fare from London to Cape Town. (Fares at the moment are around $700 US, but will likely skyrocket next summer due to World Cup demand. Let's not even discuss hotel prices, which get gouge-y very, very quickly.)

The other concerns of prostitution and human trafficking are more nefarious, especially since South African officials have the tricky job of rooting out both on-street prostitution and houses of prostitution. I'm sure this will require intense research on the part of South African officials, though they might be roaming the streets for no reason whatsoever: despite the promise of increased business, German's legal brothels experienced little of the anticipated boom in business during the 2006 World Cup.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.