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FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour is on

Karthik Krishnaswamy

The trophy will travel to 86 countries

Zurich: Five kilograms of gold, malachite and residual DNA from the sweaty palms of football’s greatest players. Ever since Brazil took permanent possession of the Jules Rimet Trophy after winning the World Cup for the third time in 1970, the Silvio Gazzaniga-designed FIFA World Cup has been football’s most iconic symbol.

Ahead of the 2010 World Cup, fans from around the world have an opportunity to catch a first-hand glimpse of the trophy in their own cities, thanks to the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, which kicked off at the FIFA Headquarters here on Monday.

This initiative of FIFA and Coca-Cola will see the trophy travel to 86 countries, including every single African nation, in a 225-day trip split into two legs.

Global tour

This edition of the Trophy Tour far outstrips the magnitude of the first one held before the 2006 World Cup, which only featured 29 countries. “This gives an opportunity to our member associations — we have 208 member associations — a chance to have this trophy with them, because only 32 countries qualify for the World Cup,” said Jerome Valcke, FIFA Secretary General.

And so, before it reaches host nation South Africa on May 4, a month ahead of the 2010 World Cup, Silvio Gazzaniga’s creation of malachite and gold will have travelled to corners of the world as far-flung as New Caledonia and N’djamena. Fans in India can view the trophy and pose next to it for souvenir photos at Kolkata on January 17.

Best goal celebration

Apart from this, the 2010 World Cup will feature for the first time an award for the best goal celebration, decided on the basis of an online global poll. To announce this was present Cameroon legend Roger Milla, who lit up Italia ’90 not only with four goals, but also the exuberant hip-wiggling dance he performed next to the corner flag after each of them.

“I feel particularly honoured to think that my little dance inspired so many other footballers who have started to celebrate their goals with a few spontaneous and joyful steps, to such an extent that Coca-Cola drew inspiration for it for their 2010 World Cup campaign,” said Milla.

“Who knows, it may inspire other footballers during the World Cup to create some famous steps, like Bebeto did with his rock-the-baby routine and Peter Crouch with his robot dance.”

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