On the other hand, those involved in Germany’s sex industry have made no secret about their “great expectations” when it comes to the hundreds of thousands of visitors descending upon Germany this summer. Much media coverage was given to the opening of the “Artemis” last fall, for instance. This 40 bedroom brothel expects business to double during the World Cup tournament.

But American Representative Christopher Smith, for instance, remains sceptical, urging the re-criminalization of prostitution in Germany. He estimates that as many as 40,000 women could be brought into Germany to be exploited as sex workers during the World Cup event. And Juliette Engel of the Angel Coalition has said that the German government has chosen "to act as an official pimp for the 2006 World Cup -- anticipating millions of dollars in revenues from the exploitation of women's bodies and souls by tens of thousands of male football fans notorious for their drunkenness and violence."

The Germans are also planning to provide “sex shacks” during the competition – a controversial issue – and increasing “the competition” among the prostitutes even more? Officials have said that the sex shacks are a pragmatic response to the "needs" of the men who will attend the World Cup competition. Critiques worry that these planned “sex huts” will soon become the equivalent of the ubiquitous “Port-a-Potties” that are routinely parked at the edges of mass gatherings to meet the needs of the crowds pouring into public events.

And pressures are beginning to mount in Germany now, too. But Chancellor Merkel remains silent on what the European Parliament has called the "dreadful problem" of sex trafficking. Many are now asking what kind of message this will send around the world. Is this what is supposed to pass for moral leadership in modern Germany?

And while the German left cheers the opportunity for "sex workers" to profit from the event, a growing number of German politicians and citizens are beginning to see only “tawdriness” and worse. But the clock is ticking too rapidly, it seems, and it looks as though it has already run out for preventing the Cup from being tarnished by any of this. The tournament begins on June 9.