Ageing beach boys enjoy the sun, sea, sand - and soccer

Among all the live matches and informative magazine shows there are some oddities on the schedules. One is the International Pro Beach Soccer Tour on ESPN, a made-for-TV concoction which must have taken its inspiration from the beach volleyball phenomenon which took off in the US earlier this decade.

International five-a-side teams play barefoot on a sand surface. Line markings are hard to discern and the rules covering the goalkeepers' handling zone seem to be pretty flexible.

The game is basically an exercise in chipping, heading and volleying. Dribbling and tackling are rare. Scores are high. It's worth a watch if only for curiosity value. Recently you would have seen Brazilian World Cup star of the 80s Junior, now grey-haired, 'slumming it' on the golden beaches of Portugal, Brazil and the south of France.

Another famous retiree getting sand between his toes was Eric Cantona playing for a team called 'Prince Albert' after the monarch-to-be in Monaco. Somehow the team name fits the dilettante nature of the event.

The fact that such a show as beach football can exist reflects a near insatiable demand for the game but also shows programming can be spread a bit thin.

As last year's World Cup commercial for the ubiquitous fizzy soft drink that rhymes with oak said: 'Eat football, sleep football, drink (you know what).' That was a good campaign but the advertising world is just as vulnerable to stretching its creative resources.