One taxi driver in Shanghai learned how dangerous it can be to listen to a football game while negotiating the city's hectic traffic. The driver, identified by police only by his surname, Su, was paying so much attention to his radio that he accidentally stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake as he tried to avoid a car in front of him.

After the resulting collision, Shanghai police began asking cabbies to arrange their work hours so they aren't listening to games when they should be paying attention to the road.

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt during Su's mishap and there have been no deaths from World Cup-related accidents yet.

Shanghai entry and exit officials have also reported a few problems stemming from soccer's foremost tournament.

The captain of a South Korean ship got so drunk while watching the World Cup at a bar on Hengshan Road that he didn't get back to his vessel on time and was fined 400 yuan (US$48) for being in the city without a proper visa.

"His ship arrived in Shanghai on the afternoon of June 1," said Lu Congbing of Shanghai General Station of Entry and Exit Frontier Defense. "That night he went to the bars on Hengshan Road to watch soccer games, where he got very drunk.

"We punished him as he didn't get back to his ship until the next morning," Lu said.

Local exit and entry officials also had to deal with eight self-described football fans from Jiangsu Province who were held at the Hongqiao Airport where they were trying to catch a flight to South Korea to watch the tournament.

When questioned, the eight didn't know many of the basic rules of soccer, including how long a game lasts.

Suspecting the group were using the Cup as an excuse to sneak into South Korea and never return, officials searched the eight "fans" and found they were all carrying fake passports for which they allegedly paid 350,000 yuan apiece.

All eight, along with their tour guide, have been detained by the police.

(eastday.com June 11, 2002)