World Cup diary: Oranje fans avoid a dressing down from Fifa

Charges against two women from Holland who had faced prosecution for allegedly taking part in an ambush marketing campaign at a World Cup match have been dropped.

Charges against two women from Holland who had faced prosecution for allegedly taking part in an ambush marketing campaign at a World Cup match were dropped yesterday. They were among a group of more than 30 Dutch women who attended last week's Holland-Denmark game at the Soccer City stadium wearing orange mini-dresses paid for by the brewing company Bavaria. They had faced charges under an act that covers ambush marketing, when a company benefits from an event without paying for advertising. However, Fifa, whose sponsors have exclusive rights to in-stadium marketing, said they had reached a settlement with Bavaria in which all parties agreed to drop any claims and also not to make any further public comments about the case.

South Africa's home affairs minister says foreigners continue to arrive in huge numbers as the World Cup enters a crucial phase. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says the total of foreign visitors this month has passed 682,000 ? up from 456,000 as of June 13. Many of the visitors are from neighbouring countries in southern Africa and are not necessarily heading to World Cup matches. But the minister said the arrivals also include large numbers of Britons, Americans, Germans, Brazilians and others with a team still in contention.

Fifa will not investigate Dunga, the Brazil coach, for allegedly cursing at journalists at the World Cup media conference after his team's win over Ivory Coast. Pekka Odriozola, a Fifa spokesman, said their disciplinary committee decided it did not have grounds to open a case. Dunga's words were caught on a microphone during post-match questioning at Johannesburg's Soccer City on Sunday. Brazil had won 3-1. Fifa have previously acted against coaches who swore during a post-match media session. Diego Maradona was suspended from football for two months last November for his profane rant after Argentina qualified for the finals.

South Africa's hunting industry expects far less revenue this year because of the World Cup. The number of football fans travelling the country means foreign hunters cannot get flights and Adri Kitshoff, the chief executive of the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa, says inflated travel and accommodation prices have deterred them further. "Many hunting outfitters have had up to 90 per cent cancellations, or postponements to 2011," said Jokl le Roux, a spokesman for the Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa.

Football players in North Korea have shrugged off their country's 7-0 loss to Portugal. Players with the Kigwancha team watched the match live on state television on Monday night but did not seem discouraged by the crushing defeat. Video footage from APTN in Pyongyang shows Son Chung Il, the Kigwancha winger, saying that if the team had "another chance to play Portugal in future, we'll try to beat them". North Korean state television aired rare full live coverage of Monday's match during prime time, marking a first for a North Korean football game taking place abroad.

A Chinese factory making vuvuzelas is having to increase production to keep up with huge demand during the World Cup. Chinese manufacturers say almost 90 per cent of the vuvuzelas used in South Africa are made in China. The Ninghai Jiying plastics factory, based in the eastern Chinese coastal city of Ningbo, is one such manufacturer raking in the profits from the vuvuzelas. An executive said the company developed the trumpet in 2001 but was unable to sell it at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

How do players relax from the World Cup? By playing video games simulating the World Cup. Many of the US players spend their free time playing Fifa 10 and 2010 Fifa World Cup. Oguchi Onyewu is one of several Americans who claims to be the most proficient video footballer on the team. Onyewu said: "At night, I kill time by thrashing [teammates] Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu in Fifa's 2010. You can put that in the headlines. They can't compete with me." Not only the Americans play the game; the Brazil star Kaka has tweeted about playing. Altidore often plays as himself, but he also likes playing as Lionel Messi. "Messi's like a juggernaut in video games," Altidore said. "He just runs around so fast with the ball. You can't stop him. Kind of like real life."

Steven Gerrard, the England captain, says the pitch at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium has a "few problems" ahead of the team's key match with Slovenia today. Heavy rain early last week damaged the pitch and forced the usual day-before training sessions to be held away from the main stadium.