GERMANY: Two years before kick-off and already the 2006 World Cup overfloweth with bad feeling, Derek Scally in Berlin writes
Soccer fans will be able to buy any fizzy drink they want during the matches in Germany as long as it's Coca-Cola, thanks to a €50 million deal has with Fifa, the world football governing body.
It seems Coca-Cola's one-time slogan, "Coke is it", is back to haunt fans. Coke really is it, for Germany 2006 at least.
Fifa has sold off the exclusive alcoholic drink rights to Budweiser - and not the tasty Czech Budvar either, but its American blue-collar bastard brother.
And that's not to mention the wurst: McDonald's is the official food partner, so no Bockwurst or Bratwurst for you.
German breweries and food companies hoping to get a piece of the action in 2006 were furious at the news that even milk is forbidden.
A meeting with World Cup officials later today on the matter is threatening to turn into a Fifa food fight.
The greatest sticking point is the fine print of contracts German cities have signed with Fifa. It gives the "official partners" exclusivity even outside stadiums, so anyone who wants to erect a big screen in a public place to show the match is bound to the terms of the city's deal with Fifa and only sell Coca-Cola, Budweiser and McDonald's.
It's soured the already grim mood here just days after the government urged Germany to put aside their angst over the economy and looming reforms and lighten up for the World Cup tourists.
"We have to stop viewing our country as the vale of tears and develop a whole new temperament," said Interior Minister Mr Otto Schily.
He said stroppy service industry staff badly needed more "jollity and lightness and a sprinkling of Viennese or Mediterranean flair".
The government says it is unable to do anything about the sponsorship deals but remains optimistic that visiting fans will enjoy a taste of Germany and not America.
"We are going to present a modern Germany to the world in 2006," said an Interior Ministry spokesman yesterday.
"Tourists are going to travel far beyond the stadiums and I'm sure they'll experience a lot more than just Budweiser beer."