Confederation Cups media accreditation now open

The FIFA Confederations Cup, also known as the “Festival of Champions”, will be the first major test on the way to 2010 and will be staged at venues in four cities: Johannesburg, Tshwane/Pretoria, Rustenburg and Mangaung/Bloemfontein.

To be held 14 - 28 June 2009, the FIFA Confederations Cup boasts an inspiring lineup which includes the seleção of Brazil as Copa America and reigning FIFA Confederations Cup winners, 2006 FIFA World Cup winners Italy, hosts South Africa, European champions Spain, African champions the Pharaohs of Egypt, first-time Asian champions Iraq and CONCACAF Gold Cup winners the USA. The Oceania champions will complete the lineup in September.

Successful applicants will be notified and provided with further information in due course. All applications are subject to confirmation. Also, be advised that international applicants are responsible for their own visas.

FIFA Media Channel

Media representatives who have not already registered for the FIFA Media Channel can do so at http://mediachannel.extranets.fifa.com/RegProc.aspx.

The FIFA Media Channel is the primary communication channel between FIFA, the local organising committee (LOC) of each FIFA competition and the accredited media. This password-protected online service is designed to provide media professionals with details on activities, including press conferences, team training sessions and other media resources, information on competition media facilities, including stadium media centres (SMCs), ticketing, FIFA and LOC media contacts, and any special media announcements. Moreover, all media accreditation requests for all FIFA competitions have to be made via the FIFA Media Channel.

Volunteer process

Meanwhile, the volunteer application process for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 closed this past weekend after a phenomenal response from South African residents. The process opened on 1 July and, as at midday on Friday, 34 721 applications had been received from people wanting to volunteer to be part of the first major FIFA event in South Africa - and for the chance to write their names in the history books.

“We are humbled and greatly encouraged by the incredible response from South African residents who have responded to our call for volunteers for the Confederations Cup. After the end of the Beijing Olympics the world's attention will shift to South Africa and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The wonderful response to the volunteer application process shows that our people are enthusiastic about playing their part and getting involved in the success of the Confederations Cup and the World Cup and that they are ready to take the baton from the Beijing Olympics. The volunteer process provides an ideal opportunity for South Africans to open their arms and to embrace the world,” said Dr Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee (OC) South Africa.

Joburg residents led the pack with 16 236 volunteer applications, followed by Rustenburg with 6580 applications, Mangaung/Bloemfontein with 6489 applications and Tshwane/Pretoria with 5416 applications.

Worldwide interest

While the application process for the FIFA Confederations Cup was only available to SA residents, the OC received numerous queries from Germany, Brazil, US, Ghana and Australia, showing the worldwide interest in and popularity of the Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first being held on the African continent.

A total of 4030 volunteers will be required in the four Confederations Cup host cities to assist in operational areas such as accreditation, administration, information technology, language support, logistics, transport, information services, media and marketing etc during the tournament.

All submitted applications will now go through a pre-selection and selection process during the period September - to November 2008. All successful applicants will be contacted in order to attend volunteer interviews.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of responses received, the 2010 OC Volunteer Programme will not be able to individually contact all applicants to inform them of their application status. If the 2010 OC Volunteer Programme has not contacted an applicant who has applied by the end of November 2008, it will therefore mean that the application was not successful.

The OC, however, reiterates its extreme gratitude for all applicants and encourage the public to again apply during the volunteer application process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which starts in July 2009.

For the volunteers, the Confederations Cup will be a unique opportunity to meet people from at least seven different countries during a once in a lifetime opportunity to work on an event of this scale. Volunteers will receive their own event specific volunteer uniforms and specialised event training and for their hard work, a certificate of acknowledgement and an unforgettable life experience.

While volunteers will not be guaranteed a place as a volunteer for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it would certainly be advantageous to have previously worked at a FIFA event.

For more information on the FIFA Confederations Cup, go to www.fifa.com/southafrica2009

Update Monday 1 September 2008, 5.15pm:

Total number of volunteer applications over 1 July - 31 August 2008: 37 408
Joburg residents: 17 262s
Mangaung/Bloemfontein residents: 7401
Rustenburg residents: 6764
Tshwane/Pretoria residents: 5981