Final whistle for late night football

Today’s World Cup finale will have two winners besides either Germany or Argentina: employers and spouses who hate football.

For the last three weeks, productivity in workplaces dipped as workers reported to work either fatigued or late, having stayed up to watch late matches

Research indicates that, globally, one-third of all employees would go to work tired, one in ten would go to work late, and three in 10 would call in sick.

“Kenyan employers have obviously lost a lot. So many workers were reporting to work late others had errors in their work, and others simply feigned illnesses,” says Maurine Muthoni, a human resource specialist in Nairobi.

She says it would have been prudent for companies to allow some of the employees to go on annual leave during the World Cup period. “It would have been a win-win situation,” says Ms Muthoni.
For Kenya, the problem was compounded by the time difference with Brazil, the hosts, who are six hours behind.

At least one match kicked off at 4 a.m. (Kenyan time) during the group stages, many at 1 a.m. and some at 11 p.m.

But that’s not all. The study by GulfTalent showed that one third of employees would spend some of their work time discussing matches with colleagues or watching highlights.

Only about one-third of respondents said that they would cut on their sleep to make it to work on time.

Wives and girlfriends

Wives and girlfriends of football lovers are also excited by the end of the tournament as their lonely, cold nights will come to an end. But enterprising Kenyans are cursing the end the tournament, which brought them good tidings. Ms Faith Misilu says she sold around 154 national team jerseys each at Sh2,000.

“I made it well...especially Team Ghana and Brazil,” she offers. “Na bado (the boom is not yet over); let’s see what Germany vs Argentina brings.”

Mr Ali Mohammed who runs a stall along says business has also been booming. “I sold some jerseys especially just before the quarter finals and semis,” he offered. “However, I am afraid of being left with dead stock because I had predicted Brazil would be in the finals to push sales. Most people are asking for the German jerseys, which have sold out.”

Business has been booming for World Cup related business, with even Brazil forward Ronaldinho renting out his house in Rio de Janeiro for Sh1.3 million (£9,120)per night.
Ronaldinho confirmed on Twitter that his five bedroom property was available to rent via Airbnb.com during the tournament.

The house has a home theatre, an outdoor pagoda, a yoga room, hammocks in the bedrooms, and TV’s in the bathrooms. There is also an abundance of Ronaldinho-themed artwork.

But it has not been rosy for everyone. Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurant Association of Kenya (Perak) trustee Mr Gathua Gitonga says many operators had spent a lot of money in refurbishing their premises but have yet to recoup their investments.

“We spent a lot buying big TVs, hiring extra security sniffer (at Sh6,500 per hour) and guard (at Sh7,000 per day) dogs as well as hiring more staff,” he said.

But Mr Martin Murigi, the owner of Mamu Bar and Shisha Lounge in Roysambu, says business has been booming.

“Anybody who has a decent bar inside an estate will tell you that business has been good,” says Mr Murigi.

The tickets for the match that kicks off at 10 p.m. will retail for between Sh425,000 ($5,000) and Sh1.7 million ($20,000) each, according to various sellers.