A star has been born. Zakumi, the 14-year-old 'green-maned' young leopard who was unveiled last night, Monday, 22 September 2008, as the official mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, has added an extra flavour to 2010 fever. And he is said to be looking forward to welcoming all fans travelling to South Africa with open arms. The unveiling ceremony took place at the SABC TV's Renaissance Centre in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. [video; poll]
Picture by:Backpagepix
Picture by:Backpagepix
“Zakumi is a key element who represents the spirit of the game and will play an ambassadorial role at the 2010 World Cup,” Thierry Weil, FIFA marketing director, told the media.
Local Organising Committee (LOC) CEO Danny Jordaan echoed Weil's sentiments. “Zakumi is a proud South African, and as such, an ideal ambassador for the first African World Cup. He is young, energetic and ambitious, a real inspiration for the young and the old, not only in our country, but also across our continent,” he said.
The mascot's name is a composition of ‘ZA', standing for South Africa, and ‘KUMI', which translates into ‘10' in various languages across Africa, including Swahili. Zakumi was born on 16 June 1994 - a date and year of significant meaning in the political history of SA. Inspired by his football idols, Zakumi has also dyed his hair green as he felt it would be the perfect camouflage against the green of the football pitch.
The mascot was designed and produced exclusively in SA. The original creator of the design is Andries Odendaal from Cape Town, and the mascot's costume was produced by Cora Simpson and David Mbe of Cora's Costumes, a small company based in Boksburg North on the East Rand, Gauteng, that also created official costume for the 2003 Cricket World Cup mascot Dazzler, according to the Shine2010 website.
The tradition of the official mascot has been in place for more than 40 years, Weil said, adding that the first-ever FIFA world cup mascot was introduced at the 1966 World Cup held in England (see www.planetworldcup.com/MASCOTS/mascots.html).
Official mascots usually play an important role in the world cup and with their extremely positive attitude, they have over the years added to the atmosphere of each competition in their own way, FIFA said.
Issa Sikiti da Silva is a freelance journalist and short stories writer whose work has been published in local and foreign publications, both in English and French. He contributes to Bizcommunity.com as a news writer. Email him at issa@bizcommunity.com.
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Picture by:Backpagepix
Picture by:Backpagepix
Issa Sikiti da Silva is a freelance journalist and short stories writer whose work has been published in local and foreign publications, both in English and French. He contributes to Bizcommunity.com as a news writer. Email him at 
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