This July it has been exactly one month after the opening of the Volunteer application process for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 and already over 20 000 people have applied to be volunteers at this Pre FIFA 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.

The volunteer programme process opened on 1 July 2008 and at the end of July, 20 040 people had registered to be volunteers at the first major FIFA event in South Africa.

Joburgers are leading the pack with 8 890 volunteer applications, followed by Rustenburg with 4 629 applications, Tshwane/Pretoria with 3 238 applications and Mangaung/Bloemfontein with 2 525 applications to work as volunteers at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, showing heightened public excitement and interest in the cities that will host the tournament.

“We are delighted with the overwhelming response to our call for volunteers for the FIFA Confederations Cup. It really shows that South Africans are very supportive and willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved to ensure the success of the Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup."

"We at the Organising Committee are extremely encouraged by that and we want to sincerely thank all those who have taken the time to apply to volunteer their services so far,” said Dr Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa.

The 16-match Confedrations Cup tournament will take place from 14 June to 28 June 2009.

The FIFA Confederations Cup will be played at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park, Tshwane/Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld, Mangaung/Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium and Rustenburg’s Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace.

South American champions Brazil, European champions Spain, African champions Egypt, 2006 FIFA World Cup champions Italy, 2010 hosts South Africa, Asian champions Iraq and CONCACAF champions the United States have qualified for the exciting tournament which will serve as a foretaste of what’s to come in 2010.

The Oceania champions will complete a line-up that is sure to whet the appetite of football fans one year ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

4 030 Volunteers will be required to assist in operational areas such as accreditation, administration, information technology, language support, logistics, transport, information services, media and marketing etc during the tournament.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa would like to stress, however, that the application process will remain open until the end of August 2008.

South African residents who speak the languages of the competing teams namely Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Arabic are urged to apply, as their services will be very valuable during the tournament.

Potential volunteers can apply online via www.FIFA.com/southafrica2009 or can call 0800 52 52 52 for further information about how they can apply to be volunteers at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

The process of the selection and screening of volunteers for the FIFA Confederations Cup only begins once the application process ends at the end of August.

The OC is very grateful for the ongoing support of the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, who have played a major role in mobilising the country’s youth behind the tournament and the volunteer process.

The City of Joburg’s 2010 co-ordinator Sibongile Mazibuko was very happy with the enthusiastic response of Joburgers to the call for volunteers.

Rustenburg 2010 co-ordinator, Nketu Matima, was equally happy with the volunteer response in the city.“We are extremely excited about the great response to the call for volunteers. People are starting to own up to the process and be part of it and we are very happy about that,” said Matima.

Before Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth was removed from the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 schedule, 758 people had applied to be volunteers in the city for the tournament.

Their data has been captured and they will be included in the application process to be volunteers at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which starts in July 2009.

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