Cape Town, 4th December, 2009

The 32 teams participating at 2010 FIFA World Cup™ finals discovered their fate on the evening of 4th of December, 2009 when the Final Draw for South Africa 2010 took place in Cape Town.

An estimated global television audience of 200 million joined the 2,000 invited guests in the Draw Hall in watching the colourful and entertaining ceremony unfold. With African sporting stars such as athlete Haile Gebreselassie, rugby player John Smit, cricketer Makhaya Ntini, and footballers Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu assisting with the draw, along with England’s David Beckham, it was always going to be an exhilarating occasion, but the undoubted centrepiece came when the eight groups were revealed.

The first speech of the night came from the man without whom a FIFA World Cup in South Africa would never have been possible: the country’s former president Nelson Mandela. The 91-year-old, speaking in a special video message, urged his nation to make the most of their opportunity as tournament hosts. “We must strive for excellence in our hosting of the World Cup, while at the same time ensuring the event leaves a lasting benefit to all our people,” he said.

Next it was time for two special presidents to take to the stage. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma showed their excitement at both the Final Draw and the 2010 FIFA World Cup itself in an entertaining dialogue lasting several minutes.

As part of 2010 FIFA Worldcup Final Draw celeberation, FIFA will also be unveiling of the new Football For Hope Centre at Khayelitsha in the outskirts of Cape Town. The opening of new centre will mark the start of the Official Campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, which the game’s governing body will be overseeing through the Football For Hope Movement.

Football for Hope ambassador Dr Gabriele Princess Inaara the Begum Aga Khan expressed what the new Centre is hoping to achieve. “We all saw the passion for football come through in the Draw, but there have been a lot of tragedies in this country, with many children dying of AIDS. They are our children and they deserve better. They deserve to be fit and healthy and receive a good education. This is the very role of this Football For Hope Centre and it is for this reason that I am very proud to be its ambassador. This is only a start, however, and other centres will follow.”