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This and other lame medical excuses are likely to be doing the rounds during the World Cup, as more than one in ten workers plan to 'throw a sickie' in order to watch the matches.

This chest-swellingly patriotic statistic comes courtesy of OMD Snapshots, which has surveyed football fans and discovered what many of us knew already - that work comes a pretty poor second to football.

A further 14% plan to do the decent thing and book the time off as holiday, while a dissolute 10% plan to visit the pub to watch the matches - despite the fact that the majority are on at breakfast-time.

Those bosses tempted to think highly of staff who remain at their workstations during England matches might want to take a closer look: 60% are planning to access the net during the Cup, while 28% and 48% expect to see or hear the action through TV and radio respectively.

The good news is that there will be a mini dotcom boom and media resurrection during the World Cup: 41% plan to listen to more radio, 64% plan to watch more TV and 40% plan to use the web more.