From suds to sex, soccer mania seizes Germany

From suds to sex
Even more controversial, at least from an American perspective, is another sector that is expected to produce millions in turnover: Germany’s sex industry.

Germany legalized prostitution in 2002, and brothel owners have been eager for the confluence of the huge sporting event and the legal sale of sex.

In preparation, erotic stores have been marketing vibrators with names such as "Captain" and "Hard Shot on Goal” and mobile brothels have been popping up on the outskirts of Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and other host cities. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of prostitutes have supposedly flocked into Germany from neighboring countries.

The phenomenon has elicited concern from the United States, which in its annual report on forced labor and trafficking persons, identified Germany as "a source, transit and destination country" for sex workers and pointed particularly to the tournament.

"Due to the sheer size of the event, the potential for human trafficking surrounding the games remains a concern," the State Department said in the study. It called on the German government to increase police enforcement of laws aimed at reducing exploitation.

“While the winner of the World Cup remains unknown, the clear losers will be thousands of women and children trafficked and sold in Germany's legal sex industry to accommodate the huge influx of demand,” said U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), the chairman of a House subcommittee on global human rights.

German officials, while standing by their country's policy of legalized prostitution, say that under no circumstances do they condone human trafficking and promise that authorities are stepping up measures to fight the problem.

Security tight
Local security officials are also eager to make sure that the high-profile event stays safe, fearing that its motto, "A Time to Make Friends," could be tarnished by hooligan violence, neo-Nazi demonstrations or, in the worst case, a terror attack.

In Berlin, a clearing house called the National Information and Cooperation Center will operate 24 hours a day, gathering information from local police forces, Interpol and the intelligence services.

Stadiums and team hotels are receiving particular protection and NATO's AWACS surveillance planes will patrol the skies during the World Cup matches. Regular air traffic will not be permitted near the stadiums on game days.

Who's the best bet?
So, who is going to win? 

Bookmakers see Brazil, the only country to have qualified for all of the 17 previous World Cups (and the team that has played in the past three finals), as the favorite for the tournament.

But the betting firms also favor Germany, with odds of 1 to 8.5 that the host nation will win the cup.

"The German team has weaknesses, but the home crowd factor will be a strong bonus for the squad," said Jochen Bouhs, who will be reporting for German broadcaster ZDF.

Other frontrunners are England, Italy and Argentina, while the biggest outsider is Trinidad and Tobago, with odds of 1:1001. 

In the end, though, it won’t really matter how good or bad Germany plays — it promises to be a winner whatever the outcome of the tournament. 

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