Football Media

After three of five ticketing sales phases for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, two-thirds of the available tickets have been sold.

The third ticketing sales phase, which will conclude with a random draw for oversubscribed matches on 1 February, saw a total of 1,206,865 applications received from 192 countries. Six matches are currently oversubscribed (in all categories), among them the semi-finals and the final. In total, 55 matches are oversubscribed in at least one category.

There was huge interest from South African residents, who accounted for 79 per cent of the total applications received (958,381) in this phase. This represents an increase of 24.9 per cent in applications from South African residents in the third sales phase when compared to the earlier ticketing stages.

Apart from the host country, the USA led the ticketing standings for the third phase with 50,217 applications, followed by the UK (41,529), Australia (15,523), Mexico (14,804), Germany (14,647) and Brazil (10,767). Increased interest was also noted in the neighbouring countries of South Africa – Botswana leading with 2,519 ticket applications, followed by Mozambique (1,795) and Namibia (1,191).

The next ticketing sales phase will start on 9 February 2010 and end on 7 April 2010. During these 58 days, more than 400,000 tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis via www.fifa.com/2010 or in FNB branches (in South Africa only).

From 15 April 2010 onwards, ticketing centres will be open in each host city (with two in Johannesburg) where fans will be able to buy tickets over the counter and also collect their confirmed tickets.

To further enhance the service, ticketing call centres will be open during the fourth sales phase – both internationally and in the host country. The call centres will assist fans with enquiries and applications. The hotline number for international customers is 0041445832010, and for domestic customers 0831232010.

For residents of the host country, the allocation of category 4 tickets (the most affordable, for South African residents only – starting from USD 20/ZAR 140) will, as planned, increase significantly.

In recognition of Visa’s valued sponsorship, FIFA prefers Visa for ticket sales.

Three UEFA Europa League places available

UEFA’s Respect Fair Play ranking, based on all UEFA competition matches played, at both club and national team level, from 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2010, is currently headed by Sweden.

Taking into account matches up to and including 31 December 2009, leader Sweden, second-placed Denmark and third-placed England are leading the race for the three additional slots to the first qualifying round of the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League.

For the current intermediary ranking, only associations having played a minimum of 26 matches are taken into account. This cut-off point is calculated by dividing the total number of UEFA matches by the number of national associations.

As defined in the club competition regulations, the three places in the UEFA Europa League will automatically go to the three best-placed national associations in the Respect Fair Play ranking, provided they attained an average of 8.0 points or more. The Respect fait play assessments are made by the official UEFA delegates, based on criteria such as positive play, respect of the opponent, respect of the referee, behaviour of the crowd and the team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals.

Each of the three associations allocated an additional place in the first qualifying round of the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League will be entitled to enter the club that has won their domestic top-division fair play competition. If this club has already qualified for a UEFA club competition, the second-placed team in the domestic fair play competition may be entered, and, should they also have already qualified, the third-placed team would be considered and so forth. It is even possible for a team that has been relegated to the second highest division to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, as a result of its exemplary fair play conduct during the domestic championship.

Joseph S. Blatter paid a three-day visit to Russia between 22 and 24 January for the CIS and Baltic Cup. This club tournament was first played in 1992, and since then it has represented the solidarity and support between the CIS and Baltic states. During his trip, the FIFA President attended individual and traditional meetings with the participating member associations from FIFA.

The main discussion points centred on the importance of sustainable youth development at a national level, as well as the equal importance of grassroots sport. FIFA is intrinsically involved in these areas thanks to its specific development programmes. Other key issues were the need for appropriate facilities; the protection of the national team in the region as well as issues concerning player transfers.

Blatter: “The dialogue with the member associations has shown once more that the development of football can only be achieved through a strong will, level of initiative and spirit of cooperation from both sides.”

On Sunday, the FIFA President watched the final of the 18th CIS and Baltic Countries Cup between Rubin Kazan (Rus) vs. Aktobe (Kaz).

The President’s visit began on Friday, 22 January 2010 with a visit to the Kremlin, where he was granted an audience with the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev. Amongst the discussion points during the one hour meeting was Russia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup™ in either 2018 or 2022.

In addition to Russia, the following member associations have also confirmed their interest in playing host to FIFA’s flagship competition in either 2018 and/or 2022: Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Spain and Portugal, and the USA.

Mr. Blatter said: “I was honoured to have been received by the Russian President. He pointed out the immense interest of the Russian population in football and we also found a common language immediately when discussing the social role that football can still play in our society.”

30% more users cast their votes

The uefa.com users’ Team of the Year 2009 has been announced, with players from UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona dominating the selection. Almost four million votes were cast by more than 320,000 users, whose resulting dream team features five members of the Barcelona side that lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy in May 2009.

Central defender Carles Puyol, who was also voted captain of the 2009 Team of the Year and who is chosen in the annual selection for the fifth time, is joined in defence by team-mate Daniel Alves at right-back. Xavi Hernández was the pick in the middle of the park with Andrés Iniesta lining up on his left whereas Lionel Messi amassed almost 250,000 votes to be named the first-choice striker.

The Team of the Year’s defence is completed by goalkeeper Iker Casillas, John Terry and Patrice Evra. In midfield, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká, now both with Real Madrid CF, line up next to Xavi and Iniesta. Up front, Messi is partnered by his current Barcelona colleague Zlatan Ibrahimovi?. Overseeing this talented blend is the winning coach from Rome in May, Josep Guardiola.

UEFA will present a cheque for €100,000 to the captain of the uefa.com users’ Team of the Year, to be donated to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). UEFA began its partnership with the ICRC when it started to support its anti-landmine campaign in 1997. This will be third time that the ICRC will benefit from the cheque offered by UEFA in relation to the selection of the uefa.com users Team of the Year. All monies donated have gone to the Score for the Red Cross campaign in support of the ICRC rehabilitation project for landmine victims in Afghanistan, providing them with artificial limbs, physiotherapy and vocational training.

uefa.com users’ Team of the Year 2009:
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF); Daniel Alves (FC Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea FC), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Manchester United FC); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF), Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona), Kaká (Real Madrid CF), Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona); Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona), Zlatan Ibrahimovi? (FC Barcelona). Josep Guardiola (FC Barcelona).

The previous editions of the uefa.com users’ Team of the Year can be found at:
http://www.uefa.com/fanzone/TeamOfTheYear/history/index.html