WC trophy to visit SA in December
25 December 2009
The Fifa World Cup trophy, the most coveted prize in world football, will arrive in South Africa on 1 December at the end of the African leg of its global tour.
The tour kicked off on 21 September in Zurich, Switzerland, with Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent accompanying the trophy on its first steps of the journey, from the Fifa headquarters was Cairo, Egypt.
By the end of the tour, the trophy will have touched down in 86 countries in 225 days.
Final Draw festivities
The arrival of the trophy in Cape Town will spark off the festivities that precede the 2010 Final Draw on 4 December – with the 36.5cm tall, solid gold trophy being the centrepiece of the event.
This is the first time ever that the trophy will visit all 53 countries on the continent, enabling African people to see it up close and become excited about the reality of the Fifa World Cup™ being hosted on African soil.
Tight security
The trophy will arrive in Lesotho on 30 November before flying to Cape Town in a specially chartered plane.
"Tight security will be in place to protect this valuable prize. It is Coca-Cola's objective to ensure that as many people as possible can see the trophy from close range and even be photographed with it," said Coca-Cola South Africa's Onwell Msomi.
"For South Africans, this event is an important highlight in the build-up to the start of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. There is no turning back now."
Following the Final Draw, the trophy will continue on the remainder of its whirlwind tour around the world.
Source: BuaNews
