Paris: The hangover goes around the globe like a Mexican wave — a trail of destructive and sometimes deadly celebration is left after every win and the World Cup ‘sickie’ has become an epidemic.
Bogota’s mayor ordered a ban on alcohol sales during Colombia’s World Cup matches after nine people died in fighting and car accidents sparked by the country’s 3-0 win over Greece.
“We want peaceful celebrations. We must reject violence,” said the mayor, Gustavo Petro. About 3,000 street fights were reported to police after the win in the city of eight million people.
In France, migrant Algerian fans poured onto the streets of Paris and other big cities after their country beat South Korea 4-2 on Sunday.
At least 28 people were arrested by police who fired flash balls to break up unruly crowds and in some cases were pelted with stones, police said. Dozens of cars were burned.
Alcohol is causing other World Cup tragedies. A drunken Mexican fan jumped off a cruise ship deck to his death after his country drew with Brazil. The ship was taking 3,500 Mexicans between the Brazilian cities of Fortaleza and Recife.
Hardly a country has escaped fallout from World Cup binge drinking.
Nepalese police have caught hundreds of football fans drinking and driving after staying up all night to watch World Cup matches.
Police in the Himalayan nation’s capital, Kathmandu, seized the licenses of more than 400 fans in one week, said Basanta Pant, spokesman for the Kathmandu Traffic Police Division. That is twice the weekly average.
Authorities have deployed 100 extra personnel to stand guard at main intersections until 4:00am, ready to stop beer-fuelled fans.
Some 5,200 cases of drunk driving were reported in China in the first three days of the World Cup, a 65% increase over the figure during the 2010 tournament, the official China Daily newspaper reported.
Traffic police will “conduct selective tests during daytime to keep hungover motorists off the roads,” added the report. (AFP)