The World Cup Trophy is Coming to South Africa
The World Cup Trophy is Coming to South Africa
The most coveted prize in world sport, the FIFA Word Cup Trophy, will arrive in South Africa on 5 May, on the final leg of its global tour.
The solid gold trophy will start its journey in Pretoria before continuing to stop over at 38 cities and towns across South Africa. The trophy will then arrive back in Johannesburg days before the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at Soccer City stadium on 11 June.
“Millions of South Africans will get an opportunity to see the FIFA World Cup Trophy up close, and some who could have won competition tickets will have a special moment of taking a picture with the Trophy and participate in celebrations as it moves across all nine provinces,” says Onwell Msomi, General Manager: 2010 FIFA World Cup Project Team, Coca-Cola South Africa.
“This is a unique, once-in-a-life-time experience as not all South Africans will be able to get tickets to watch FIFA World Cup matches but everyone will have an opportunity to participate in the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour,” explains Msomi. “It’s an event that will unite the nation and generate extra enthusiasm among all South Africans in the last 30 days before the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks-off.”
Coca-Cola was also responsible for the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour of 2006 but this is the first time the iconic Trophy will travel across the host country at the end of its world-wide journey. The trophy has been a symbol of the FIFA World Cup since its first appearance on the global stage in 1974. Only heads of states and the captains of winning teams are allowed to touch it.
On its 130 000 km journey across the world, it travelled in a chartered branded plane commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company. In South Africa it will move from town to town in a special helicopter.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy stop over’s will start in the Western Cape on 7 May, and the trophy will then travel to the Eastern Cape; KwaZulu-Natal; the Free State; Northern Cape; North West; Mpumalanga; and Limpopo before returning to Gauteng in June. At each of the venues it will be prominently displayed for public viewing and about 800 people per event will be able to have their pictures taken with the trophy. The programme at the venues will consist of a wide range of activities appealing to all ages including performances by artists and entertainers.
The Coca-Cola Company has been an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup since 1978 and a primary supporter of soccer development programmes across the world, including South Africa. For the 2010 event Coca-Cola also sponsors the National Flag Bearer and Ball Crew initiatives which will enable young South Africans to be part of the action on the field of play at each match.
“Now that the FIFA World Cup Trophy is coming back to South Africa, it will be a final reminder to all South Africans that the long anticipated tournament is now only a few days away,” concluded Msomi.