Pub staff are being urged to keep condom machines well-stocked as they prepare for a huge influx of customers for the World Cup.
HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has called for pubs to ensure the machines are replenished in order to keep sports fans safer from sexually transmitted infections during the tournament.
According to THT, previous major sporting events have increased the demand for condoms. It that predicted this year's World Cup tournament will prove no exception for increased post-sporting action.
Last year, despite 100,000 condoms being stockpiled for the Winter Olympics, an additional 8,500 had to be emergency airlifted into the Olympic Villages in Vancouver and Whistler.
Singer Beverley Knight is supporting THT's 'Scoring without getting an own goal' World Cup campaign: "Pubs and bars are going to be packed to the rafters this World Cup and landlords and bar staff can make a real difference to keeping their punters safer throughout the tournament by making sure their condom machines are also full to the brim!
"There's nothing that's going to put you off your game more than an unplanned pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection this summer, so lets make safer sex sexy again."
THT spokeswoman Genevieve Edwards said: "With levels of sexually transmitted infections rising steadily in the UK, safe sex isn't something we should be ignoring. By keeping condom machines in the gents and ladies' loos fully topped up staff can help prevent their customers getting an own goal this summer."