The draw for the 2010 World Cup takes place tomorrow in Cape Town, Inas Mazhar reports The draw for the FIFA World Cup has become the most watchable event in the world by thousands at the draw venue and millions more live at home on television and the Internet. According to FIFA officials, the financial and time investment required for the preparation of this event is significant, and given the huge technical requirements, it can now only be held in congress centres, such as the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), which have the necessary technology and know-how at their disposal. This was not always the case. The draw only grew to such a scale a little less than 20 years ago with Italia 90, when it could no longer be held in TV studios, hotels or even government ministries, as had traditionally been the case in the last 80 years. This year's World Cup draw, to be held 4 December in Cape Town, South Africa, has seen 3,254 people involved in the operation, 1,587 safety and security people including authorities and private security staff, 400 host city staff, 80 entertainers, 500 contractors, 380 volunteers, 110 organising committee staff members and 207 FIFA staff. It took nearly a year of preparations and 5,000 hours of production of the video material to be used during the show. Eighteen live broadcast units are to be used for the live broadcast of the show to more than 200 countries and territories. The 32 teams are to be seeded into eight groups of four teams each. They are Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mexico, Holland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and the US. Two days before the draw, on 2 December, FIFA is due to hold an extraordinary executive committee meeting in Cape Town to discuss recent, controversial events which have taken place in the world of football. These include incidents at the play-offs for the 2010 World Cup, especially the Ireland-France match in which French striker Thierry Henry used his hand to help France score the winning goal, and the violence that flared following Egypt's match with Algeria played in Sudan. Other issues on the table are irregularities in the football betting market in an unprecedented match-fixing scandal in Europe involving 200 matches, and match control (refereeing). FIFA President Joseph Blatter will head the meeting. Egypt's Hani Abou Rida, a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, will be attending the meetings. A week earlier, Abou Rida had travelled to Zurich for meetings with Blatter and Secretary-General Jerome Valcke. Abou Rida, who is also vice president of the Egyptian Football Association, was accompanied by EFA President Samir Zaher and EFA marketing and security manager Amr Wahbi. The Egyptian delegation submitted a detailed report to FIFA on the alleged stoning of a bus carrying the Algerian team in Cairo from the airport to their hotel and which reportedly injured three Algerian players. The report includes video and mobile evidence regarding the alleged attack which Egyptian investigators believe Algerians instigated after breaking a bus window from the inside. The evidence also dealt with Algerian attacks on Egyptian supporters in Sudan which injured 20 Egyptians. The attack came after Algeria beat Egypt 1- 0 to qualify for the World Cup. Abou Rida said FIFA had promised to investigate the matters thoroughly and question all the parties involved. Though Abu Rida said he believed a replay of the play-off was the fairest decision FIFA will probably have other ideas like imposing fines and sanctions on both teams or only on the Egyptians. He said the EFA will take the case to the Court of Sports Arbitration if FIFA did not take the appropriate action and sanctions against the Algerians. On 3 December, FIFA Executive Committee members are scheduled to meet on Robben Island in South Africa where they will receive reports on the 2009 FIFA competitions held to date this year: (the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt; the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria; the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai) and updates on upcoming FIFA events, including the FIFA Club World Cup to be held in the UAE in December and the FIFA World Player gala at the end of this year. On the sidelines of the draw, FIFA has organised a media event in which the 10 bidders for the 2018 and/or 2022 FIFA World Cup (Australia, Belgium-Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Spain-Portugal, Russia and the US) will be able to present their bids to the international media. The event will take place in Leeuwenhof, Cape Town on 4 December and will include interview opportunities with representatives of the bidding countries. On 5 December the opening of the first Football for Hope Centre in Khayelitsha will take place. The first World Press Day at the CTICC will also be held to provide the media with first-hand information on the preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the host country.
