From snowy Himalayan valleys to steaming tropical cities, Asians are losing a lot of sleep -- and money -- as Euro 2004 fever infects a continent where soccer is passionately followed if not always brilliantly played.
Given time differences, Asian workers, and sometimes their bosses, are arriving at offices in a groggy state, or not at all, after watching games into the early morning hours. Family quarrels over Euro 2004 viewing are also being reported.
About one-third of the 3,357 people who responded to a survey in the Chinese city of Shanghai said they planned to ask for time off from work to see at least some of the games. Another 19 percent said they were buying bigger television sets to better enjoy the soccer fiesta.
PHOTO: AFP
"If you are staying up late to catch the live telecast, make sure you are able to go to work and not be late," warned Malaysia's Sports Minister Azlina Othaman, although her lecture doesn't appear to have been heeded as clubs, restaurants and outdoor foodstalls all over the country stay open late to cater to fans.
Traders on Bursa Malaysia, the national stock exchange, say many people are taking a less than normal interest in price movements. "Bleary-eyed from Euro 2004 fixtures, investors are just staying out of the market," one Kuala Lumpur-based trader noted.
But working overtime are bookies cashing in on Asia's endemic gambling habits, as well as law enforcement officials trying to snare them during the three weeks of tournament play.
The Soccer Gambling Suppression Center, set up by Bangkok's police force, said yesterday that 37 bookies have been arrested in Thailand's capital over the past week, along with 347 gamblers. Police estimate illegal cash flow from the tournament at US$5.8 million.
Police in Hong Kong nabbed nine unauthorized bookmakers, seizing US$415,000 worth of betting slips in raids on Thursday. In Shanghai, they busted a major online soccer gambling ring that had collected US$2.4 million in bets, newspapers reported.
But such hits are believed to reveal just the tip of an Asian gambling iceberg.
"My wife has told me not to play but I'm addicted to it like a drug. Many people are also addicted to it like I am although we rarely win," said Nguon Chuon, a 57-year-old clothing seller, after placing a legal US$10 bet in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
Betting on foreign soccer teams has become routine for many in Cambodia, where 45 percent of the population lives on US$1 a day.
Before the European championships kicked off in Portugal, Asia's soccer governing body urged Asian governments to legalize betting on soccer matches, saying it would accelerate the sport's progress in the region.
"Football is now developing into an industry and it generates a great amount of revenue," said Peter Velappan, secretary-general of the Asian Football Confederation. "Legalized betting will be one of the commercial activities to generate income for football development."
Few Asian players or teams make it into the international limelight, although South Korea stunned the soccer world by reaching the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup which it co-hosted with Japan.
But Asia's backseat to European and Latin American domination of the sport hasn't stopped Asian fans from becoming fanatic cheerleaders for teams and individual players from those continents.
"I'm not that crazy about soccer, but I love David Beckham," said Wiyada Ngamsom, a 33-year-old Thai lawyer, as she prepared to watch the English star and his team play.
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