MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico manager Miguel Herrera wants his players to avoid sex during the World Cup in Brazil, joking it will be okay to look at but not touch bikini-clad women.

The fiery coach said he would not ban his 23 men from any hanky-panky but that he would prefer they practise abstinence during the month-long tournament that kicks off on June 12.

“I am not thinking about prohibiting sex nor that they would have it,” Herrera told a news conference yesterday.

“I am thinking about football and I hope that the boys are thinking about football because nobody has died from practising abstinence for 40 days,” he said.

“Some people are virgins until marriage and they are 20 or 25 years old. So, please, nobody will die for 40 days.”

Asked whether the rule applies to the coaching staff, Herrera said he would be too busy drawing tactics against Group A rivals Brazil, Croatia and Cameroon to think about anything else.

“If you cross a bikini and you see it and that’s all, it’s no big deal. We will be in front of the beach, it’s impossible not to cross a bikini in Brazil, but looking doesn’t hurt,” he quipped.

While Mexico will not be based in Brazil’s version of sin city, Rio de Janeiro, the team’s base camp will be in the coastal city of Santos, which has its own beach.

Other World Cup managers have addressed the sex issue. Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari said in April that he told his players that they can have “normal sex” before games but they should avoid any under-the-sheets acrobatics.