This World Cup has been anything but peaceful at times on the field. UNICEF and others, however, remain confident that the soccer tournament can still deliver a powerful message for good around the world.

Tokyo Sexwale, a member of South Africa's 2010 tournament organizing committee, said Wednesday players have to remember their responsibilities to the millions watching. Bad behavior has its consequences.

Sexwale, a former political prisoner who served more than a decade behind bars with Nelson Mandela at Robben Island, said he understands "a moment of tension" can happen in any sport. Still players need to remember that nothing escapes the TV camera.

"This product is a global product. It's a television product," Sexwale said. "It brings each one of things that you do and you don't do into the living rooms of people. So there's a greater responsibility.

"It's not like you can pick your nose in private, but if you pick it here in public, we see you in our living rooms. And if you poke your finger into the eye of another player, we see it even more in the living room because they are being watched.

"It's a game, it's beautiful but it must be handled with responsibility."

The World Cup has seen 310 yellow cards and 25 red cards through 56 games. In games like the Netherlands vs. Portugal, angry players have confronted each other in groups. In others, referees have struggled to differentiate between real fouls and dives.

Sexwale said players will eventually pay the price at a tournament whose cumulative TV audience is expected to surpass 30 billion.

"Television is going to bring it into the living room. The referee may not have seen it because he's human but the world is seeing," Sexwale said. "And such a player runs the risk of ruining his own reputation and that of his team and when you are playing at international level, that of his own country."

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