Football Media

Nine South African cities and seven cities over five continents will be the host to FIFA’s official public viewing events for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

From Table Mountain to the Copacabana, from Durban Beach to the Eiffel Tower, from Soweto to Sydney Harbour, the FIFA Fan Fest™ will enable football fans worldwide to watch FIFA World Cup™ matches in some of the most iconic locations in South Africa and around the world.

All nine South African Host Cities as well as Berlin, London, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Sydney were unveiled as locations for the FIFA Fan Fest™, the official public viewing events of football’s flagship tournament. Millions of fans are expected to watch the matches live at these events and experience the unique FIFA World Cup™ ambiance in these outdoor areas. Entrance to the FIFA Fan Fest™ is free, with all 64 matches to be broadcast on giant screens in a safe and secure environment.

Official public viewings events were first launched by FIFA in 2006 as part of the official programme under the name of “Fan Fests”. During June/July 2006, more than 18 million fans gathered at the 12 official events and transformed Germany into one of the greatest fan parties of all time.

“The FIFA Fan Fest was an important part of the success of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and we believe that the 2010 FIFA Fan Fests, both in South Africa and in the other seven international venues, will bring an unprecedented experience to millions of football fans in South Africa and around the world,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. “The first International FIFA Fan Fest is another milestone in bringing the excitement of the FIFA World Cup to an even greater audience.”

In South Africa, the FIFA Fan Fest™ will be organised by the Host Cities together with FIFA and the Local Organising Committee, with the International FIFA Fan Fest™ cities and FIFA taking responsibility for the international events. “We have always wanted the 2010 FIFA World Cup to touch the lives of as many South Africans as possible. The FIFA Fan Fest will provide an opportunity for millions of our people to watch the matches in a festival environment for free and will also provide an opportunity for small businesses and our musical talents to benefit from this event,” explained Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa.

Without the support of key stakeholders, a project of this scale could not be staged. A significant contribution to the South African FIFA Fan Fest™ will be made by Presenting Sponsor Coca-Cola, joined by Sponsors of the FIFA Fan Fest™ South Africa, MTN and Neo Africa. The official broadcaster of the event, SABC, will also be playing a vital role across all venues in South Africa.   The International FIFA Fan Fest™ will be supported by Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai/Kia and Sony as well as by the Media Rights Licensees appointed by FIFA in each of the individual territories.

Besides football, all cities will provide tastes and sounds of each of the countries through an all-day entertainment programme outside the actual broadcast of the matches. In South Africa in particular, this will offer opportunities for small local businesses to provide services and sell local arts and crafts.

On 4 December 2009 – the day of the eagerly awaited Final Draw – visitors and South Africans will have the first opportunity to get a taste of what is to come in 2010 when Cape Town hosts the Long Street Festival for the Final Draw, which will feature an official FIFA Fan Fest™ showcase event.

The race to host the 2011 and 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups is wide open and reaches a milestone following the signature of the bidding agreement of 13 member associations expressing their interest in hosting one or both competitions.

The member associations that have sent the Bid Registration forms to FIFA by the established deadline of 1 September for one or both competitions are, in alphabetical order: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland and Tahiti.

The initial bidders list for both FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups is larger than ever and the diversity and quality of the contenders will make this a very interesting selection process. The interest shown proves the importance of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup as a truly universal event and demonstrates the global influence of this competition to achieve positive change, in line with FIFA’s development interests for the sport.

“We are delighted with the interest that beach soccer has raised in our National Associations and it reinforces the level of our involvement with this mode of football. We believe in the permanent success and growth of beach soccer” said Jérôme Valcke, Secretary General of FIFA.

The next step in the process will come on 15 January, when member associations will submit the signed Hosting Agreements together with the relevant information on event experience and country infrastructure. The Final decision will be made by the FIFA Executive Committee in March 2010.

The FIFA Emergency Committee has  decided to suspend the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) due to governmental interference.

FIFA learned on 16 November that the Iraqi Olympic Committee had disbanded the IFA and that governmental security forces had seized control of the IFA headquarters. On the same day, FIFA informed the IFA that if the decision was not revoked within 72 hours and if the headquarters were not returned to the IFA by the same deadline, the case would be referred to the FIFA Emergency Committee.

The deadline has expired without revocation of the decision by the Iraqi Olympic Committee and the IFA has not been restored to its headquarters. The FIFA Emergency Committee has therefore decided to immediately suspend the IFA until the decision of the Iraqi Olympic Committee is revoked and the IFA retakes possession of its offices.

In accordance with FIFA Statutes, the clubs and representative teams of Iraq are no longer permitted to take part in international matches, whether friendly or competitive. Furthermore, the IFA is deprived of its right to vote at any congresses held by international bodies and is no longer entitled to receive financial assistance. However, the FIFA Emergency Committee has agreed to let the Iraqi women players take part in the U-16 regional football festival organised by the Norwegian Football Association in Jordan between 22 and 29 November.

The measures taken by the Iraqi Olympic Committee and the security forces are unacceptable to FIFA as they stand in total contradiction of IFA and FIFA statutes. The current members of the IFA Executive Committee are the sole recognised interlocutors for FIFA, and FIFA hopes that they will be rapidly reinstated so that they can work on the agreements that have been reached with regard to the revision of the statutes and the holding of elections.

Following the announcement, and after yesterday’s press conference by the German authorities that confirmed a number of individuals were arrested by German police in connection with match fixing and corruption allegations of around 200 matches, UEFA can today confirm that it has been assisting the German authorities with their investigations.

UEFA has been actively involved in the investigation and has given assistance via detailed information through its Betting Fraud Detection System. This detection system monitors all UEFA competitions and European national league first and second division matches for suspicious betting patterns. The information on a number of matches was passed to the German authorities upon their request.

Of the matches concerned the vast majority are domestic league matches in nine countries, under the jurisdiction of the authorities and national football associations concerned. The small number of matches that do involve European football, 12 UEFA Europa League and 3 UEFA Champions League matches, are all early qualifying round games. More information will be given on which matches are concerned at a later date. These matches do however form part of the UEFA list of 40 matches that have previously been quoted as being ‘under suspicion’.

Commenting on the case UEFA General Secretary, Gianni Infantino, said:

“Firstly, I would like to thank the German authorities for their action and for the good collaboration. This case proves that it is possible for a state investigative authority to work closely together with a sports governing body when it comes to corruption or match fixing, and it is gratifying to see that the Betting Fraud Detection System endorsed by the UEFA President, Michel Platini, is already bearing fruit. We will continue our battle against any form of corruption in European football with a mission of zero tolerance.

“UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions before the competent courts for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice, be it under state or sports jurisdiction.”