Bangkok, July 6 (DPA) Asia's four qualifying teams all crashed out of the World Cup in the first round - but it did not stop the region's fans from staying glued to their TVs - at considerable social cost.
Over the past month, hundreds of bookies and gamblers have been arrested for betting on the World Cup. Alcohol consumption has jumped as has electricity use as fans view into the wee hours.
In Thailand, between June 9 to July 5, 126 bookies and 591 gamblers were arrested for illegal bets worth 215 million baht ($5.6 million).
These were no doubt a small fraction. One pre-World Cup survey found that an estimated 3.7 million Thais planned to gamble as much as $250 million on the matches.
Such gambling is common in Thailand, where all gambling is illegal, and in the rest of Asia, which goes a long way towards explaining the regional fever for football.
In Malaysia, a regional hub for gambling syndicates, at least 80 bookies have been arrested during the World Cup.
In Hong Kong, where certain gambling on football matches was legalised in 2003, illegal operations continue to flourish.
Hong Kong police carried out more than 70 raids on illegal operations during matches, arresting 130 people and seizing betting slips and cash amounting seven million dollars.
That would have been just a fraction of the $4 billion wagered on sports annually by Hong Kong's 6.8 million people.
'It has been a busy month for us, and we expect more activity when Italy play France in Sunday night's final,' a police spokesman said.
In one raid over the weekend, two Hong Kong detective constables were arrested for allegedly taking and placing bets on behalf of a multi-million-dollar syndicate.
In China, at least nine World Cup-related deaths have been reported, including six people who dropped dead of excitement or stress during televised the matches.
At least one Chinese football fan took his own life, jumping from the seventh floor of a hotel in Baoji city after watching Holland lose to Portugal, the Beijing Times reported. He was believed to have bet heavily on the Dutch.
A Chinese woman in her 20s also died after leaping from her 17th floor balcony in the eastern city of Jinan following a row with her husband, who had watched three World Cup matches every day during the group stage, the Capital Women's News reported.
There were signs that more Asian women were showing interest in the World Cup, or at least in World Cup footballers. Indian girls, for instance, staged day-long fasts for the success of England captain David Beckham.
But in general the period has been a trying one for wives.
In Japan, some 61 percent of 893 men surveyed said they were watching the games alone every night. Thirty percent of 731 Japanese women surveyed complained they were being ignored during matches, according to a survey conducted by iShare online research company.
What was bad news for Japanese women was good news for Japanese breweries. Kirin Brewery Co, an official World Cup sponsor, projected a five percent increase in sales of beer and other alcoholic beverages.
Since the end of March, Japanese consumed at least 11.39 million litres of beer from bottles or cans bearing the Team Japan design, 15 percent more than the company expected, Kirin said.
Even German wine has benefited. A special World Cup version of Zeller Schwarze Katz sold 52,800 bottles since it first appeared at storefronts in mid-April - double normal sales.
In India, beer sales in New Delhi and Mumbai reportedly jumped 40 percent during the World Cup nightly vigils.
In Nepal, the 2006 World Cup matches also saved lives.
Nepalese football fans watching late-night quarter-final matches last weekend in a village on the banks of the Kathmandu Valley's Bagmati River turned local heroes when they alerted neighbours to sudden floods.
These washed away seven houses and damaged four others, displacing 57 families. But residents said if it had not been for the World Cup broadcasts, the floods would have claimed lives.
World Cup miracles or not, the late night TV has had its toll on many.
Kathmandu resident K.M. Singh, 70, a keen footballer in his younger days, said: 'I can understand the young wanting to share in the thrills of the match. But if they shouted a little less, we old people could sleep a little better.'
© 2006 DPA | 
