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Do Sports Fans Need Insurance, or Therapy?

With World Cup soccer action drawing ever closer in Germany, insurance companies are scrambling to find new ways to make money from the event.

Last week, a British man took out an insurance policy against the potential trauma of England being prematurely knocked out of the World Cup. If a panel of experts agrees that the Brits don't get as far into the tournament as they should and the fan can give medical evidence that he suffered severe mental trauma as a result, britishinsurance.com will pay out a million pounds on his policy.

Meanwhile, a Dutch company is providing insurance against employees taking sick days when the Netherlands has a match. During the last major soccer tournament--2004's European Championships--absenteeism rose by a massive 20% on game days, and by 15% on the days after matches. This time round, Dutch companies who take out SEZ's insurance policy won't have to foot the bill for employees whose "stomach bug" is really a victory hangover.

We just hope there's an insurance company who'll insure us against the trauma of eating a bad Bratwurst.

Related stories
Fan could get 1 million [The Times]
Sick days policy [Reuters]
World Cup madness [Jaunted]