Germany Hosts World Cup Soccer

Germany is hosting the FIFA World Cup 2006. This will be Germany’s second time to host the world’s most important sporting event - besides the Olympic Games - since 1974.

The preparations are in full swing. During the bid for the World Cup, the Federal Government offered guarantees which helped Germany win the contract for this major event.

Many football fans across the globe are already looking forward to this spectacular event to be held in football-crazy Germany. In 2006, not only will Germany welcome the national football teams of 31 countries, but also far in excess of one million visitors. In addition to these, there will be billions of television viewers. On the spot and on television screens across the world, people will not only be following football matches, but also gaining the most varied impressions of the host nation. The World Cup is a unique chance to present hospitable Germany to sport lovers across the globe.

In co-operation with the Organising Committee led by Franz Beckenbauer, associations, trade and industry and important social groups, the Federal Government would like to use this opportunity to present Germany as a tolerant and cheerful country. Primarily, the spark of enthusiasm and understanding between nations will be communicated worldwide and the World Cup motto "A time to make friends" will truly be brought to life through the dedication, the commitment and the enthusiasm of the entire population.

The Federal Government has set up and supports many projects and campaigns that raise anticipation of the World Cup or highlight important aspects of the World Cup.

These include, for example:

The Organising Committee's campaigns "Talent 2006 - The FIFA World Cup at school" and "Club 2006 - The FIFA World Cup at your Club", which are mainly targeted at school children and young people, supported by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security as well as the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

"Green Goal", the climate neutral environmental strategy to reduce consumption of water and energy, and minimise waste creation, as well as shift traffic to public transport, supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

The campaign "Kinder stark machen" (make children strong) as part of the Organising Committee’s club campaign "Club 2006 - The FIFA-World Cup at your Club". This campaign addresses all football clubs in Germany on the subject of addiction prevention. Supported by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security.

The project "Wolkenloser Spaß bei der WM 2006" (cloudless fun at the World Cup 2006). Loudspeaker announcements and advertisements in stadiums call for greater consideration to be shown to non-smokers. Events pick up the subject of protection for non-smokers. Supported by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security.

The campaign "KinderLeicht" (child’s play) would like to use the World Cup 2006 to draw the attention of a broad audience - mainly young people - to the subjects of diet and exercise as well as sustainable consumption. The worrying rise in obesity and adiposity through lack of exercise and poor diets is to be highlighted. Initiated by the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture.

"streetfootballworld" is the project of several years' standing on the subject of street football. The project is made up of several sub-projects like "World Cup Schools - Fair Play for Fair Life", WM im Quartier - Bolzplätze (World Cup in your district - kick-about areas) (various street football events) and the World Festival, a street football tournament involving 24 project teams organised by football-based youth social work). Supported by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Among the Federal Government’s other important achievements are the financing of the conversion and rebuilding of the Berlin Olympic Stadium (195.8 million euros) and the Leipzig Central Stadium (51.1 million euros), as well as the improvement of transport infrastructure and traffic management with in total 3.7 billion euros.

The World Cup 2006 is a great opportunity in economic terms too. Germany will present itself as a strong, modern and innovative location for the World Cup 2006. The Federal Government and German trade and industry want to use the unique opportunity presented by the World Cup for a location and image campaign.

By order of the Federal Government, the state-run Invest in Germany GmbH, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour, is promoting Germany as a business location to investors worldwide. In addition, agencies abroad as well as partners like the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), including the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad, are involved in promoting Germany as a business location in connection with the World Cup 2006.

In addition to economic development, the marketing of tourism plays an important role in the context of promoting Germany as a business location. Based on the comprehensive marketing action plan that the German National Tourist Board (DZT) had agreed with the Organising Committee as early as spring 2003, the DZT is working consistently on the football-related promotion of Germany as a tourist destination and is using the marketing tools of its 29 agencies abroad for this purpose. At trade fairs and workshops, study trips to World Cup cities as well as with special advertising material, the DZT wants to use the football event to draw the international public’s attention to Germany as a tourist destination. It will also be using the world exhibition in Aichi (Japan) this year as well as the campaign "Germany in Japan 2005/06" as a framework for its promotion of tourism.

With the Artistic and Cultural Programme for the FIFA World Cup 2006, the Federal Government aims to raise anticipation for the world’s greatest sporting event of the year 2006 among German citizens and foreign guests. The programme was initiated by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily. The more than 30 selected projects are designed to present the cultural diversity of Germany as well as its cosmopolitanism at a national and international scale. No such programme has ever before accompanied a Football World Cup.

The Artistic and Cultural Programme is being implemented by Nationale DFB Kulturstiftung WM 2006 gemeinnützige GmbH (DFB Kulturstiftung), a non-profit-making limited liability company (GmbH) founded by the German Football Association (DFB). Multi-media artist André Heller is acting as the curator. The work of the DFB Cultural Foundation (DFB Kulturstiftung) is overseen by a Supervisory Board, whose members include representatives of the Federal Government, DFB and German Bundestag.

The Federal Government is providing about 30 million euros for the implementation of the projects included in the Artistic and Cultural Programme. They will be financed through the sale of a special series of 10-euro silver coins for the World Cup 2006.

The heart of the Federal Government's Artistic and Cultural Programme for the World Cup 2006 is the "FOOTBALL GLOBE". It has appeared in six World Cup cities so far (Berlin, Frankfurt, Köln, Leipzig, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen) and has been visited by more than 400,000 people. The next stops in 2005 are Dortmund, Kaiserslautern, Nuremberg and Hanover.

On the Federal Government's initiative, this football world cup will be the first to have its own kick-off event. On 8 June 2006, the eve of the opening match, a "Festival of Football" will be held in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. In October 2004 Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, and President of the Organising Committee Franz Beckenbauer agreed the basic conditions for the kick-off event for the World Cup 2006. Curator of the World Cup’s artistic kick-off is André Heller. The event will be organised and financed by FIFA.

Finally, the "Arbeitskreis Tourismus/Gästeservice" (working group for tourism/hospitality) of the Organising Committee - with the active co-operation of the Federal Government - has drawn up a strategy on how Germany can present itself as a service-oriented and hospitable tourist destination. The DZT will be in charge of implementing the campaign and this is to be achieved in time for the Confederations Cup 2005.

The target groups of the campaign are the entire service chain in Germany, i.e. all groups of people who come into contact with World Cup 2006 visitors, German citizens and potential tourists from abroad, as well as media representatives. In all areas, Germany is to be as well prepared as possible for the arrival and departure as well as the stay of many, mainly foreign visitors.

Source: http://wm2006.deutschland.de