World's last football-free zone

The country is still relatively free of football

By Kate Clark BBC correspondent in Kabul

While much of the world is consumed by watching the football World Cup in Japan and South Korea, there are a few football-free zones left in the world - one of them is Afghanistan.

Watching sport on television is no longer an illegal activity, but it is not yet a national pastime.

There are many logistical problems to overcome to watch the tournament

This makes Afghanistan a nightmare location for the many foreign journalists and aid workers who are also football fans.

But all that could be about to change in the capital, Kabul, at least.

"I prowled the streets, but I couldn't find anywhere to watch the match," said one Irish aid worker.

She was really quite distressed, having missed Ireland play Cameroon in the World Cup, realising too late that taking up a job in Afghanistan during June 2002 could have its downside.

The overworked Brazilian spokesman for the United Nations said he had just given up trying to watch any matches in the face of what seemed insurmountable odds.

No electricity, no TV

Most Afghans do not have electricity, let alone television sets.

But even if you do have a TV, you also need a dish antenna and a decoder to have any chance of seeing the football.

No wonder watching televised sport is not yet a national pastime.