FIFA finally joins the party... on Twitter

Here is the statement in full:

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter launches Twitter page

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter will launch his personal Twitter page today, Thursday, 10 June. Fans from all over the world will be able to follow the FIFA President's views and opinions on the account "@seppblatter" throughout the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa.

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, commented:

"We are approaching the first FIFA World Cup in which social media websites will play an important role in connecting everyone who cares about the game of football. I'm very excited to be sharing my own personal experience of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with football fans from all over the world."

FIFA.com, the world's official football website, will launch two further accounts, to go live later in June. They are: @FIFAcom covering interviews, site developments, Fantasy Team progress and updates on key news from tournament matches, and @FIFAcomLive, providing continuous and real-time updates from all 64 games at South Africa 2010.

Bizcommunity.com has to wonder at the late timing of doing this.

By the way, @FIFAcom is already active and telling the world the hashtag to use for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is #worldcup, when common usage has been #wc2010 for ages. Looks like FIFA has a steep learning curve when it comes to social media...

For more:

• Special Twitter page: http://twitter.com/worldcup/worldcup
  
• Blabla.co.za: Twitter Gets the Gees, Makes the Circle Beega & Spreads 2010 World Cup Joy with #hashflags
  
• Memeburn: World-wide Twitter trend frenzy ushers in World Cup day
  
• Mashable: Twitter Celebrates the World Cup with Special Design
  
• Mashable: Google Is Crazy About the World Cup, Too