Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is giving government workers the afternoon off on Friday, so they can watch their national team in the quarter finals of the World Cup.
“The progress of Colombia to the quarter-finals has sent the country into a state of national euphoria.
“But after a spike in domestic violence after Colombia’s first win, the sale of alcohol will be banned on match day.
“The president decreed that Friday afternoon would be a “civic day” so that government workers could finish work at 13:00 and watch the match, due to kick off at 15:00 local time.”
Noticias Caracol, from Colombia, reports the president also announced he would fly to Brazil to support the national selection.
Colombia is undefeated in the tournament.
The next match will be one many will be watching because it will face the host country, Brazil, at 4 p.m. ET.
And, by the way, maybe Santos figured he might as well give federal workers a day off, because no one was going to be working anyway. The Huffington Post, for example, featured a study that found the 2010 World Cup affected the world’s productivity.
“The U.K. lost $7.3 billion in decreased economic output and U.S. companies lost 10 minutes of productivity per day,” the Huffington Post reported.
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