Long before the first soccerball was kicked at the World Cup earlier this month in Germany, hardline Islamists were busily denouncing the massive competition as a corrupt show of Western influence.
But as the daily matches have gone on, Islamists using the Internet have shown they are not immune to World Cup fever, with some rejoicing in the defeat of Shiite majority Iran and others lambasting the Saudi Arabian team for falling out of the finals.
In advance of the tournament of 32 countries, which has now also seen Iran and Tunisia knocked out of the final rounds, one Islamist warned his fellow Muslims against "this plot aiming to corrupt Muslim youth and distract them from jihad [holy war]."
Another called it a "cultural invasion worse than military war because it seizes the heart and soul of the Muslim."
A Kuwaiti sheikh named Hamad al-Aali wrote in the fatwas page of his Web site: "It is illicit to watch these matches on corrupt television channels while our nation is decimated night and day by foreign armies."
Armed with such religious edicts, some Islamists called for a boycott of the "Prostitution Cup," in reference to reports that several thousand sex workers were arriving in Germany for the event.
"While our brothers in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan are being massacred in cold blood by the Crusaders and Jews, our young people will have their eyes riveted on depraved television sets which emit the opium of football to the extent of overdose," wrote one Islamist who signed his name as Abu Haitham.
He named "12 vices" linked to the World Cup, particularly "idolatry of infidel players" and the "distraction of Muslims from jihad."
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