The Football World Cup 2002--analysis of related attendances to an Irish Emergency Department.

Throughout the Football World Cup Finals of 2002, 47 patients attended the Emergency department with a variety of conditions related to the event. The majority were minor trauma victims such as assaults or falls and in over half the presentations alcohol was a factor. Thirty-eight of these patients attended within 24 hours of an Ireland match. The overall impact on the Emergency Department was limited. Introduction Ireland's participation in the Football World Cup Finals of 2002 led to intense media coverage and huge public interest. The Finals were held in South Korea and Japan. Many travelled to watch the Irish team but the vast majority of supporters had to be content with watching the televised coverage of the event. To illustrate this, on Irish terrestrial television alone, an estimated 1,714,000 people watched the televised Ireland v Spain match. This represents 53% of the population of Ireland.