FINAL DRAW FOR BRAZIL 2014 WORLD CUP: Thursday's three press conferences LIVE

The Final Draw: your questions answered

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(FIFA.com) Wednesday 4 December 2013

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The media have already started their analysis. The fans are beginning to feel the nerves. On Friday, the wait will be over. The Final Draw on 6 December will deliver the verdict on the eight groups which will kick off the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.

So what else would you like to know about this key date in the football calendar? We answer all of your questions here.

Who are the seeded teams?
Brazil, as hosts, then Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay as the best-placed teams in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the month of October 2013.

What time does it get underway?
The ceremony for the Final Draw kicks off at 17:00 CET (13:00 local time).

Where is the Final Draw taking place?
The event is staged at Costa do Sauipe, on the Costa dos Coqueiros, an impressive location in the State of Bahia, 76 kilometres north of its capital, Salvador.

Who will be there to carry out the draw?
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke will be charged with conducting the draw and he will be joined by a number of distinguished assistants: Uruguay legend Alcides Ghiggia, Englishman Geoff Hurst, former Brazil captain Cafu, Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro, Argentina’s Mario Kempes, Spain’s Fernando Hierro, French legend Zinedine Zidane and German great Lothar Matthaus.

How are the pots distributed?
Pot 1 (seeds)
Pot 2 (CAF and CONMEBOL teams)
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile and Ecuador
Pot 3 (AFC and CONCACAF teams)
Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA
Pot 4 (UEFA teams)
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia.

How will the draw be carried out?
The teams in Pot 1 will be automatically assigned position 1 in the groups in which they are drawn. Brazil will go automatically into position 1 in Group A.

The first step of the draw will be to pick out a team from Pot 4 – the only one with nine teams – and put that side into Pot 2, in order to ensure each zone has eight balls. Then it will be back to Pot 1 and Brazil will be placed into Group A, with the rest of the seeds drawn in position 1 of the remaining groups, consecutively up to the letter H.

Pot 2, now with teams from three different confederations, increases the risk of breaking the rule of geographical separation. In order to avoid a group with three European teams, there will be a Pot X featuring the four seeded South American teams. One ball will be drawn from this pot and this will determine the group for the sole European team in Pot 2. Then, Pot 2 will be drawn. The European team will go into the group already established, with the remaining sides fitting sequentially into Groups A to H.

It is also worth noting that some groups may be skipped to respect the rule of geographical separation, in order to avoid Chile and Ecuador going into sectors featuring South American seeds.

Pots 3 and 4 will then be drawn.

The position of the teams in the groups will also be drawn (except the seeds, as already mentioned).

Where can I follow the draw?
The draw will be broadcast live and screened on public-access television in no less than 193 countries. FIFA.com’s comprehensive coverage of the day begins at 9am local time with a special show which can also be followed via the FIFA App. There will also be up-to-date information on our Twitter account and on our Brazil 2014 Facebook page.  

Will there be a show during the draw?
Yes. The event will feature several musical performances: Alcione and Emicida, duo Vanessa da Mata and Alexandre Pires, celebrated choreographer Deborah Colker and the Bahia-born pair Margareth Menezes and Olodum.

The Final Draw in figures

(FIFA.com) Wednesday 4 December 2013

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© AFP

After no fewer than 820 qualifiers, 32 teams are left in the running for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. This coming Friday their names will all go into the hat at the Final Draw, which kicks off at 13:00 local time in Costa Do Sauipe and will be followed by a worldwide TV audience of millions.

To set the scene for what is a major event on the football calendar, FIFA.com reveals some of the fascinating statistics involved in its preparation.

2,700

 - The number of people who will be working at the event in one capacity or another. In addition to the 2,000 people employed by subcontractors in tasks such as setting up the venue, cleaning and catering, 200 volunteers and 300 security staff will be on hand to ensure the event runs smoothly. Three hundred FIFA employees will also be on duty, along with 200 staff working for the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for Brazil 2014.

9,000

 - The floor area in square metres of the auditorium where the Final Draw will take place, and which will accommodate 4,800 accredited guests and staff and the 30 radio stations (17 of them Brazilian) and 79 TV stations (seven of them local) covering the event. The Draw will be broadcast in nearly 200 countries.

36

 - The weight in tonnes of the lighting equipment, which includes 11 kilometres of cables and 200 projectors and 308 reflectors for lighting the stage. As far as sound is concerned, some 30,000 metres of cables will be used, while the video equipment will weigh 20 tonnes, with a mere 3,500 metres of electrical cables and 2,000 metres of signal cables being laid, taking the total length of cabling to be used at the Final Draw to nearly 46 kilometres.

580

 - The floor area in square metres of the stage on which Final Draw assistants Cafu (representing Brazil), Fernando Hierro (Spain), Zinedine Zidane (France), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Alcides Ghiggia (Uruguay), Geoff Hurst (England) and Mario Kempes (Argentina) will appear to decide the fate of the 32 teams. Made of steel, the stage weighs nearly four tonnes.

30

- The number of coaches from the participating national teams who will be in Costa Do Sauipe on Friday. The only absentees will be Uruguay boss Oscar Tabarez and his Mexican counterpart Miguel Herrera.

Draw procedures approved

(FIFA.com) Tuesday 3 December 2013

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© AFP

At its meeting in Costa do Sauipe/Bahia earlier today, the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup™ approved the procedures for the Final Draw, which will be held in Costa do Sauipe, Bahia on 6 December 2013 (13.00 local Bahia time/17.00 CET) and will be broadcast live on free-to-air-channels in no fewer than 193 countries. As already announced, the seeded teams have been selected on the basis of the October 2013 edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, namely hosts Brazil (A1), together with Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland, and Uruguay. Pot 2 contains Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, and Ecuador. In Pot 3 are Australia, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and the USA, and in Pot 4: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Russia. The detailed draw procedures can be found here.

Blind and visually impaired fans will also be able to enjoy a special live-match experience at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Thanks to a brand new commentary system which broadcasts via radio frequency and can be picked up on any personal radio headsets, blind and partially sighted fans will be able to sit anywhere in the stadium. This service, which is part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Sustainability Strategy, will enable many more disabled supporters to enjoy the tournament and also create a legacy that will have a lasting impact long after the final whistle has been blown. The service will be available in Portuguese in Belo Horizonte (Estádio Mineirão), Brasília (Estádio Nacional), Rio de Janeiro (Estádio do Maracanã), and São Paulo (Arena Corinthians).

To deliver this project, FIFA and the LOC are working together with the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) and Urece Sports and Culture, a Brazilian organisation working with partially sighted and blind people. It will be the first time that such a service has been provided in Brazilian football. After the competition, the equipment will be donated to local entities that wish to be part of the legacy project. For more details, please click here.

The committee was also provided with a detailed update on the preparations for the World Cup. It was explained that during the Board Meeting of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) on 2 December 2013, the technical teams of FIFA and the LOC had presented the latest stadium assessment, reporting that four of the six stadiums yet to be completed for football’s flagship event were currently preparing to stage their first events in January 2014. Cuiabá, Manaus, Natal and Porto Alegre are currently finalising their event schedules.

In the case of Curitiba, the technical teams reported that the stadium could be inaugurated in January, with the first match planned for late February or early March. In regard to the Arena Corinthians, it is too early to provide a concrete assessment as the technical report and the investigation into the recent accident by local authorities have not yet been completed.  

Due to the reduced timeline, FIFA, the LOC, government and stadium authorities are adjusting the stadium operational programme to ensure that the stadiums are delivered and host events prior to the FIFA World Cup without compromising on safety or quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H5ahMvUV2vg

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/23/84/13/introducingaudiodescriptivecommentarytobrazilforthe2014fifaworldcup%E2%84%A2_neutral.pdf

The press conference with the FIFA World Cup™ ambassadors (9.30 local time, 13.30 CET), the press conference with draw assistants (10.30 local time, 14.30 CET) and the press conference following the meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee (12.00 local time, 16.00 CET), will be streamed live on FIFA.com and FIFA on YouTube on 5 December.

The press conference with the ambassadors will feature, among others Bebeto, Marta and Ronaldo, while the press conference with the draw assistants will feature Sir Geoff Hurst, Fabio Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane. 

The press conference following the meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee which is taking place between 4 and 5 December will touch upon subjects such as sports political matters including the landmark agreement for the organisation of football in Cyprus matters, the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™ and the hosts of the FIFA tournaments and Congresses for 2016 and 2017.

FIFA President Blatter and FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke will be attending the press conference.

Stay tuned and follow these three events live on FIFA.com. 

(FIFA.com) Wednesday 4 December 2013

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