Dazzling TV show for 2010 prelim draw

Addressing the media on Thursday, 22 November 2007 from the Nkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) Durban, CEO of the LOC, Danny Jordaan said, "The Preliminary Draw will be in the format of a 90-minute television show."

Ahead of Sunday's event, Jordaan said South Africa has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its ability to organise a world-class event to an expectant local, continental and international community.

"As the first official associated event of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the preliminary draw is of paramount importance to us at the organising committee," said the CEO.

"We've worked tirelessly for months on end to ensure all is in place for this special occasion and we are confident that all visitors to our country will revel in our uniquely African hospitality."

Live broadcast highlight

According to the world football governing body FIFA, the undoubted highlight will be the live broadcast of the draw, scheduled to start at 5pm on Sunday, with South African President Thabo Mbeki and FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The ceremony, which includes a section of typical African entertainment, will feature the draw to determine the pairings and groups for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa preliminary competition.

The draw will be conducted by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, who will be able to count on such famous names as South African legends Kaizer Motaung, Jomo Sono and Lucas Radebe, as well as Ali Daei (Iran), George Weah (Liberia), Abedi Pelé Ayew (Ghana), Kasey Keller (US) and Marcel Desailly (France) as his assistants.

"The draw will give viewers all around the world an excellent taste of what lies in store for them in 2010," said Valcke, on FIFA's official website, ahead of the draw.

New TV feed record

"170 territories have booked the TV feed for this event, which is a new FIFA World Cup record and yet more proof of the huge interest in South Africa 2010."

Exempt from the draw are South America, whose qualifiers are already underway in a home-and-away league format, and Oceania, whose preliminary competition began with the South Pacific Games in August 2007.

The draw will commence with the Asian zone, followed by CONCACAF, Europe and finally Africa. The results can also be followed live on FIFA.com.

Meetings of various FIFA bodies and the local organising committee will take place in South Africa's port city on the Indian Ocean before the football family comes together for the draw.

On Saturday, the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup will focus on the final preparations for the draw and the approval of the draw procedure for each of the geographic zones while also deliberating on the match schedule and ticketing issues.

World premiere

Some of the sporting and entertainment activities planned for the city are the beach party on Friday evening and the world premiere of Anant Singh's More Than Just A Game, a film that recounts the story of the Makana FA, an association founded by the inmates on Robben Island.

The much-awaited Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates derby will take place on Saturday and is to be broadcast to 43 European countries.

Eurosport, Europe's largest sports satellite and cable network, will televise the game to an audience that could be as high as 22.3 million households.

Commentary will also be in nine languages: English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Turkish and Norwegian.

On Sunday – the day of the Preliminary Draw – visitors will be taken on a tour to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Moses Mabhida stadium which is still under construction.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews