The charity Cancer Research UK is using the World Cup to raise awareness of testicular cancer by highlighting the differences in the incidence of the disease across the world.
It has released figures showing that footballers from Europe's top footballing nations are at least five times more likely to get testicular cancer than those from hosts Japan and South Korea. Players from Nigeria are also at low risk, coming at the bottom of the league. At 0.6 cases per 100 000 of the population, South Korea and Nigeria lie in joint 119th position. Fredrik Ljungberg of Sweden and Joseph Lobo of Nigeria (pictured above) represent the opposite ends of the risk spectrum.
England, Italy, France, Sweden, and Germany, however, rank among the top 25 countries for the disease, and cases of testicular cancer in England have risen 84% since the late 1970s.
Full details can be accessed at the website of the International Association of Cancer Registries at www-dep.iarc.fr/
