World Cup Draw: Excitement mounts

The glare of the global football world will be on the Cape Town International Convention Centre at 7 pm on Friday 4 December 2009, when the 32 teams who made it through to Africa’s first FIFA World Cup™ and their legions of fans find out exactly where they will be playing —and who they will be playing against.

And when the Final Draw is beamed to millions of homes in more than 200 countries next week, a magnificent Draw Hall and stage fit for the magnitude of the occasion stands ready to play host to the dramatic proceedings.

It’s taken 3600 hours of manpower to set up the sprawling Draw Hall and 950 square metres of timber to construct the stunning African_inspired Draw stage – which already stands ready to host the eagerly anticipated event.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa’s Cape Town Venue Manager, Teral Cullen, has been the operational head of the mammoth operation that is the Final Draw – and as the excitement mounts and the event draws nearer, she’s confident things are well in hand.

Ex - Real Madrid & European Cup winner, plus French International World Champion, Karembeu at the draws for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and S/Africa Statesman, Nelson MandelaÂ

“Over the last 10 days everyone involved has put in an enormous effort. They’ve really put their noses to the ground and worked flat out, with many late nights and early mornings. The Draw Hall and stage is complete and rehearsals have already started. And with a week to go we’re very confident with our preparations, we’re ahead of schedule and ready for this event,” said Cullen.

She added that while the Final Draw is being delivered by a large team of 3 254 people in total, including security personnel, volunteers, event staff, contractors and entertainers, the co-operation between all parties has been outstanding.

“There has been tremendous teamwork and communication between the city and provincial authorities and FIFA and the Organising Committee. There’s been excellent communication in particular between ourselves and FIFA in terms of assessing the requirements for this event and delivering on it. All parties involved sense we’re building something special and we’re set for and working hard to deliver a spectacular event,” said Cullen.

To date, 27 of the 32 coaches have confirmed their attendance, including well-known coaches such as Brazil’s Dunga, Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz, England’s Fabio Capello, Italy’s Marcello Lippi, Spain’s Vicente Del Bosque and of course South Africa’s Carlos Alberto Parreira have confirmed their attendance for the Final Draw.