NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS THE DAY THE WORLD PLAYED FOOTBALL

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS THE DAY THE WORLD PLAYED FOOTBALL

Saturday, 9 December, will mark the day the whole world played football -- to observe the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

The governing body of world soccer, the International Federation of Football Associations, known by its French acronym FIFA, has invited all its 191 national associations worldwide to play at least one game in a designated time-frame to create a ribbon of football games around the globe.

"The Day the World Played Football is our sport's contribution to the half-century of the United Nations", said FIFA General Secretary Joseph S. Blatter in Zurich. Urging all his football associations to take part on 9 December, he said it was important "to show that there is no more effective way of bringing the world together than through football".

Over 120 countries have heeded his call and have agreed to host games. One or two countries in each of the 24 time zones have been specially selected to play a key part in assuring the continuity of the football chain. They include Norway, where the ribbon starts, in honour of Trygvie Lie, the first United Nations Secretary-General, together with such countries as Morocco, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Fiji, Guam, Uzbekistan, South Africa and France, where the ribbon ends, in Paris on Sunday, 10 December -- 24 hours after kick-off.

Franz Beckenbauer, former captain of the German World Cup winning team, will kick off in Oslo and President Chirac of France will officiate at the end of the event in Paris. That city will be the site of the preliminary draw, on 12 December, for the 1998 World Cup.

In an effort to involve the youth of the world, the United Nations fiftieth anniversary Secretariat has made available to participants the "Passport to the Future" -- which encourages the active participation of young players and fans in accomplishing the goals of the United Nations.

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