Original Story


BBC  Thursday, 13 June, 2002, 18:48 GMT 19:48 UK 

Thailand inmates hold own world cup 

Armed guards ensured there was no crowd trouble.

Thai and foreign prisoners have been getting into the World Cup spirit by staging
their own version of the event,  at a Bangkok jail. 

More than 400 inmates, as well as 200 guards, gathered at Klongprem Central Prison
as the tournament got underway with a match between Nigeria and Japan. 

Teams from Japan, Nigeria, England, Italy, France, Germany,
the US and Thailand will be taking part in the five-day tournament. 
 
Klongprem houses 7,283  prisoners, including 1,153 foreigners,
mainly on drug charges,  and it is hoped that the event will
ease tensions in the overcrowded facility. 

The tournament began with the  players from each seven-a-side team being 
led out accompanied  by the prison marching band. 


              Break from routine 

The Nigerian contingent, the country with the largest number of foreign prisoners 
at Klongprem, were preceded by four men dressed as boxers. 
 
But it was the Japanese mascot who really caused a stir, a man dressed in full
kimono, bearing the country's flag. 

With sharpshooters looking on, the first match was played between Japan, as one
of the World Cup's co-hosts, and Nigeria. 
  
The Nigerians won 6-1 in a match that drew enthusiastic cheers from 
the watching  inmates. 

"The main objective for our first World Cup was to decrease tension among
prisoners, to teach them about unity, and to decrease conflict," Siva Saengmanee, 
director general of the Corrections Department said before the tournament. 
 
"This tournament is good because we can spend our time breaking
the prison routine," said one Dutch inmate, Michael Kuyt. 

The top two teams from each of two groups take part in the final
with the victors being presented with a gold-painted wooden
replica of the World Cup trophy - as well as extra toiletries

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