PARIS Japan and South Korea may already have flown home from the World Cup finals but their supporters have made a lasting impression on FIFA, the sport's governing body, which is dedicated to cleaning up the game. FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper praised the custom of fans from Japan and South Korea who will co-host the 2002 World Cup of bringing plastic bags in team colors to the stadium to wave during a game and then pack their litter in afterwards.

The sector occupied by the Japanese and Korean fans at the end of the game is actually cleaner than when they went in. This is a tradition that I think should be adopted elsewhere, he said. We can look forward to very clean stadiums in 2002. (Reuter)