North Korea has secured legal rights to televise World Cup matches live, according to Asia's broadcasting union - who deny that the communist state had pirated a recording of the opening fixture.
According to South Korean broadcaster SBS, the North's Korean Central Broadcast Service (KBS) aired Friday's 1-1 draw between South Africa and Mexico without permission.
But the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union said North Korea - whose team is competing at the World Cup for the first time in 44 years - had used legal footage "right from the start" following a deal between the union and football's world governing body Fifa.
Meanwhile, North Korea coach Kim Jong-hun bristled at a question from South Korean media ahead of his team's opening match against Brazil. A reporter, speaking in Korean, referred to his nation as "North Korea" in a news conference on Monday - rather than by the country's official name, the Democratic Republic of Korea.
"There's no such country named 'North Korea,' replied Kim. "Next question."
A question about North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's involvement in team selection was then cut off, with a Fifa official reminding journalists not to ask political questions.
France's playmaker Yoann Gourcuff - the struggling heir apparent to Zinedine Zidane - is being cast as socially isolated from the core of Les Bleus squad after an anonymous start to the World Cup in their drab 0-0 opener with Uruguay.
"Yo [Gourcuff], I never hear him," said captain Patrice Evra. "To speak to Gourcuff, you have to talk to [Jeremy] Toulalan. It's with him that I see him having a laugh."
There is even speculation that Gourcuff is being ignored by his team-mates on the pitch, with Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribery allegedly guilty of deliberately not passing the ball to the Bordeaux midfielder.
Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo added his voice to the complaints about the wall of sound being made by the vuvuzela trumpets at the World Cup.
"It is difficult for anyone on the pitch to concentrate," he said.
"A lot of players don't like them, but they are going to have to get used to them. Hardly anyone likes them, but the people who do like them are those who like to blow the instruments and make a racket."
More than 100 World Cup security stewards have protested in Durban a day before Spain plays Switzerland as they call on Fifa to confirm what they should be paid by contractors for working at the tournament, according to reports.
Armed police looked on as the workers danced, chanted and sang at the peaceful demonstration on Tuesday. Protest leader Sibusiso Mthethwa said the stewards would "protect our visitors" even if their demand for higher wages are not met.
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