South Africa : Confederations Cup draw for 2009 on the horizon

By Michael Appel

Johannesburg - The official draw for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup is to take place this weekend where the eight qualifying teams will be matched against each other in the first stage of the tournament.

The draw will be taking place on Saturday at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

South Africa, as the hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, gains automatic entry in the tournament as well as the six reigning continental champions Brazil, Egypt, Spain, New Zealand, the United States, Iraq, and 2006 World Cup winners Italy.

Speaking at the launch of the marketing campaign in the run up to next years Confederations Cup, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, Derek Carstens said a variety of media will be used to profile the event.

He explained that the campaign will include magazines, newspapers, television, radio and online advertising to hype up awareness and excitement for the tournament.

"It is important to get the message out there now because people are still unaware of the quality of the tournament," Mr Carstens said, adding that the Confederations Cup would be promoted as an appetizer to the main event of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Advertising campaigns ahead of the tournament will utilise billboards, pole adverts, television and radio infomercials as well as newspaper advertising campaigns, said Mr Carstens.

Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana said South Africans need to unite behind the national team.

"We have to be united, we have to play with our hearts, our spirits and will. And, together we will have a good campaign to honour our national jersey.

"Our focus is on the 2010 [FIFA World Cup], we are building for the tournament. But we also want to do well in the Confederations Cup," said the coach.

Following a recent LOC board meeting, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke told media that the LOC's focus is to shift to the need for marketing and promotion of next years Confederations Cup, and not only the main event in 2010.

The Confederations Cup needs to be promoted not only in South Africa but oversees as well, while the world cup is naturally promoted by all the matches played around the world to qualify for the world cup, said Mr Valcke.

The event will take place from 14 June to 28 June 2009 and the 16 matches will be played in four of South Africa's stadium's including Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium, Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld, and Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality earlier this year made headlines when the Nelson Mandela Stadium was removed from the list of Confederations Cup host stadiums due to concerns raised by both FIFA and LOC about the state of its readiness.

The Nelson Mandela Stadium was the only stadium being built from scratch, while the other four only had to be upgraded to meet certain FIFA requirements.

Tickets for the confederations cup will go on sale on the day of the draw on 22 November 2008 and prices for the tickets will start from R70 upwards.
Meanwhile, Soccerex has announced a record number of FIFA delegates will be attending Soccerex 2008.

The business-to-business expo, which will open on Sunday at the Sandton Convention Centre, already has more than 50 FIFA delegates registered.

Soccer stars such as David Beckham have also agreed to support the exhibition. He is expected to teach a group of South African children the basics of soccer. - BuaNews