How publicists earn their crust

Picture the scenario. Hot on the heels of a terrorist attack on Togo's national football team at the African Cup of Nations, black farm workers murder their South African boss: the white supremacist, Eugene Terre'Blanche.

Conundrum: how to convince the world's media and football stars that the forthcoming World Cup will run like clockwork without a backcloth of bullets and bombs?

This is where the publicists and the politicians earn their corn. If any other 'event' happens in the next few weeks, the clamour for boycott on the World Cup may get louder, irrespective of the loss of money involved.

On the other hand, a cancellation of the World Cup may bankrupt the sport.

I hope the organisers are well insured.


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