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BEIJING, July 5: With millions of people around the world fixated on World Cup matches, soccer has found another unlikely fan in the head monk of China's famed Shaolin Temple.
Abbot Shi Yongxin will fly to Germany to watch the final at the special invitation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the temple said on Wednesday.
The abbot said the FIFA invitation was thanks to the growing influence worldwide of the Shaolin Temple and Shaolin kungfu.
Established about 1,500 years ago, the Shaolin Temple is famed for combining martial arts with Zen Buddhism and features long sessions of meditation to purify the mind.—AFP
