After attending the final of the FIFA U-17 World Championship Peru 2005, President Joseph S. Blatter will be travelling on to Montevideo (Uruguay) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the FIFA World Cup on 3 and 4 October 2005. He will be accompanied by FIFA senior vice-president Julio H. Grondona, vice-president Angel María Villar Llona, Executive Committee members Isaac Sasso Sasso, Ricardo Terra Teixeira, Senes Erzik, Nicolás Leoz and Ahongalu Fusimalohi, General Secretary Urs Linsi, and Deputy General Secretary Jérôme Champagne.
The climax to the festivities will take place at the heart of the Centenario Stadium, the very scene that formed the backdrop to the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930. At that time, the host country clinched victory by beating Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of 80,000 fans
(see http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050809/1/4aao.html).
A commemorative plaque will be unveiled at the Centenario Stadium and a series of special postage stamps issued by the Uruguayan postal service as a tribute to the occasion. Joseph S. Blatter will also present the Uruguayan authorities and the Uruguayan football association, in the person of its president, Eugenio Figueredo, with commemorative plaques. The new official 13-minute film of the historic 1930 FIFA World Cup, collated from restored clippings and partly coloured,
(see http://www.fifa.com/en/media/index/0,1369,101548,00.html) will be screened during the gala dinner.
The FIFA President will take advantage of his stay in Montevideo to visit the Uruguay Celeste Complex, a sports centre co-financed by the FIFA Goal Programmme and home to the national team when training. The national squad will be using the complex to prepare for its forthcoming 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches – in Ecuador on 8 October and at home to Argentina on 12 October.
Programme
Monday, 3 October
15 :45 Visit to Charrua Stadium followed by a women’s football match
17 :00 Visit to Uruguay Celeste Complex – informal meeting with Paolo Montero and Jorge Fossatti, captain and coach of the Uruguayan national team respectively
Tuesday, 4 October (Centenario Stadium)
10 :00 Visit to football museum
10 :30 Launch of commemorative stamps in honour of the 75th anniversary of the FIFA World Cup™
11 :00 Unveiling of commemorative plaque
11 :30 Media conference
Enquiries to:
FIFA Media Department – tel.: +41-43/222 7272 00, fax: +41-43/222 7373, e-mail: media@fifa.org