Cape Town has come to a standstill this week, as the city prepares to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup Final Draw on Friday 4th December, expecting thousands of delegates to descend on its shores for the event.
Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England are the top seven seeds based on the October 2009 Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking and joins host country South Africa as the 8 seeded teams for the final draw.
The pots are as follows:
Pot 2 comprise of Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Honduras, Mexico, USA and New Zealand.
Pot 3 are Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria , Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Pot 4 will have the remaining European teams of Denmark, France, Portugal, Serbia, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.
South Africa are positioned as A1 with the other seeded teams drawn into groups B-H, and in position “1” of their respective groups.
Groups will be drawn from A to H and the positions in the group will be drawn for Pots 2 to 4.
Geographical criteria will also be respected, meaning that with the exception of European teams with a maximum of two per group, (they constitute the largest number of teams from a specific continent or geographical boundary), no two teams from the same confederation will be drawn in the same group.
More simply, this means South Africa cannot play the African teams from Pot 3 and Argentina and Brazil cannot be drawn against the three remaining South American teams, ensuring a fair chance for all divisions.
Guests and celebs making an appearance at the prestigious pre-world cup event include South Africa’s Oscar winner, Charlize Theron as guest presenter alongside FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. Also on the star-studded list is: David Beckham, Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia), two-time Olympic gold medallist, Makhaya Ntini, the first black player in the South African cricket team, John Smit, the captain of rugby world champions South Africa, President Jacob Zuma, FIFA President Joseph S Blatter, Nobel Peace Prize winners FW. de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as former football icons Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Eusebio and Roger Milla.
Former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, one of the architects of the first African World Cup, will address the audience by video message.
The Final Draw will be broadcast live to an audience of more than 200 million people around the globe, with 2,000 invited guests and over 1,700 media representatives.
Tune in on Friday to watch the event live from the Cape Town International Convention Centre, 19.00 local time/CET+1.
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