Japanese Insurer Offers World Cup Coverage

Soccer football’s World Cup, scheduled to take place in Japan and Korea next year, is arguably the world’s biggest sporting event, but unfortunately unruly soccer fans, dubbed “hooligans” after their English roots, frequently cause a lot of damage.

Japan’s Nissin Fire & Marine Insurance Co. has therefore designed a policy to provide coverage for shopkeepers who are the principle potential victims of their depredations.

Small business owners in Yokohama, which will host four Cup matches, can obtain coverage for around $42 which provides for a 1 million yen ($,8323) payout for damages caused by acts of vandalism committed during the two months of the competition. It also covers losses from fire or robbery, if it’s the result of hooliganism.

Nissin requires that at least 200 shopkeepers apply for the coverage as a group, and has said that other groups in Japanese cities would also be eligible, provided they reach this minimum.